Honda‘s massive music-based online video initiative may be struggling, but its newest YouTube campaign is very exciting. The automaker teamed up with ad agency Wieden + Kennedy  (W+K) for “The Other Side“, an interactive video that cleverly examines the differences between two  related cars.
The stars of “The Other Side” are the Honda Civic and the Civic Type R. The former is compact car suited for the suburbs, while the latter is a high-performance vehicle with a sleeker look. In order to highlight the strengths of each vehicle, W+K created two videos: In one, a dad picks up his daughter from school; in the other, he assists a pair of thieves as they execute a heist.
The clever part of the two videos is the way they are spliced together. On a specially designed YouTube page, the videos play on top of each other, and viewers can switch between them by holding down the R key. There are several well-timed parallels; for example, a popping gum bubble in one video corresponds to a car crash in the other.
A few teasers are also available for viewers who, for some reason, don’t want the full experience.“The Other Side” will remind many viewers of “Like A Rolling Stone“, the interactive video campaign created by Interlude to promote a Bob Dylan compilation album. Interlude offers “branching” videos through its Treehouse program, which creates videos similar to Honda’s new ad.