Pirelli's new buzz

This is the future of advertising, or part of it:
Following the BMW steps, Pirelli is now trying to get our attention with its new project: The Call.
What is this exactly?
It's a 10 minute film (to be released on march 23th) which involves a battle between good and evil, featuring the ascetic-looking Malkovich as a priest and the modeling bad girl Campbell as the devil. Pirelli says the story provides a metaphorical illustration of its long-running slogan, "Power is nothing without control."
The Call is the first step of Pirelli's idea to make a new generation of shorts only for Internet, written and produced with the same means and professional expertise as the most famous Hollywood productions.

Pirelli says its project, developed by Leo Burnett Italy, goes several steps further (than BMV or others).
For one, the branding will be unusually subtle. "The Call" will be the centerpiece of Pirelli's marketing for several years; and advertising in other media, including print and television, will be built around the Internet film. Pirelli said "The Call" and its associated advertising would account for 60 percent of the company's marketing budget -- a Hollywood-style gamble on one production.

"The Call" is Burnett's first major project for Pirelli, which had been working mostly with an Italian agency, Armando Testa. Pirelli also chose a new media-buying agency, Maxus BBS, part of WPP Group, replacing Media Italia, a subsidiary of Armando Testa.

The film may represent a new direction for tire advertising, but it is not entirely out of character for Pirelli, which has always relied more on image-driven advertising, trying to appeal to the would-be Ferrari driver rather than the average tire kicker.

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