Click here to view the embedded video.

Credits: The ad was placed in NZ by Lassoo; but the agency and film company are not known.

Employing Fracture’s design know-how and some hardcore Kiwi ingenuity from Metal Skills, the two companies created the guitar-inspired racing vehicle, with work split evenly between conceptual design and graphics and fabrication and engineering.

“The process just flowed so well,” says Fracture’s creative director Nick Fracture. “We would raise the bar, then Metal Skills would raise it even more, and back again… it was great fun. The trolley that came out the end of that was just insanely cool.”

While the collaboration was a chance for both teams to show off their serious design skills, having fun along the way was equally important. The heavy metal guitar look of the trolley was tongue-in-cheek; a play on Metal Skills being ‘masters of metal’. And true to form, with the accompanying graphics Fracture took “everything that’s so bad it’s good” about 80s glam metal album covers and, in Spinal Tap style, turned the volume up to 11.

“It’s so exciting when you put seriously clever people together and let them loose on something like this. And winning the Most Creative Trolley prize was the icing on the cake. We are rapt. It’s such a cool way to start off the relationship with a new client. There’s just massive respect between our two teams now, and it’s really set the tone for us to do some great work together in the future.”

And be sure to take a gander at some of the other impressive vehicular concoctions here.

Red Bull’s Energy Shot was the first to market in August 2009, with an advertising campaign featuring the ‘blue and silver pocket rocket’ slogan. Frucor’s V Pocket Rocket Energy Shot followed soon after.

In the High Court last December Frucor’s lawyers asked Justice Judith Potter for an interim injunction to stop Red Bull using the phrase. They argued that after Frucor’s massive promotional campaign for V Pocket Rocket, consumers might mistakenly believe Red Bull’s Energy Shot was the V product, because of the promotional references to ‘blue and silver pocket rocket’.

In a decision issued last week, Justice Judith Potter said there was no basis for an interim injunction.

Frucor has failed to satisfy me that there is any reasonable likelihood of confusion or deception amongst the relevant public.”

Red Bull New Zealand’s General Manager Glynn Rowell described the decision as a total vindication of Red Bull’s position.

Frucor chose to name its product V Pocket Rocket knowing Red Bull was already using ‘rocket in your pocket’ in the USA. We felt strongly that as the first energy drink company to use Pocket Rocket, we shouldn’t have to change our promotions because Frucor decided to use it too. We were confident of our position and we’re obviously very pleased by this outcome.”

The Court also awarded costs to Red Bull.

The magazine is to be dished out to New Zealand Herald readers on the first Tuesday of every month starting in January and Chris Jagusch, general manager of The New Zealand Herald, says he is excited to be involved with Red Bull.

“This is a mutually beneficial partnership. We provide Red Bull with a ready-made, intelligent audience, while Red Bull gives our readers a high-quality publication that will be unique in this market,” he says.

The Red Bulletin will be accepting local advertising and will also be available from selected retailers nationwide from January. StopPress has a few copies to give away, so if you’d like one, send your details to editor@stoppress.co.nz.

And all this talk about Red Bull brings us nicely to a video of kerrazzee extremos doing absolutely ridiculous things with winged suits in Norway.

Click here to view the embedded video.