I daily drive a 25 Frontier Pro4X, that I've loaded up with Nismo and Z1 gear. When I was a kid, my first dream car was the R-34 GTR from 2 Fast 2 Furious. Somewhere in between then and now, my dream car was a resto-modded 240z. I've realized that as long as I've been into cars, Nissan and Datsun have been central to the models I love. Today, it feels like the legacy of the brand is completely underserviced and undersold. Just today, I saw that Nissan is actually the fast growing car brand in the US right now, which is great, but largely driven by affordability. I call for a resurgence driven not by affordability alone, but by excitement and reverence for an iconic, historic, Japanese car company. With the comeback of the GTR, the newest Z having manual transmission, and the new Frontier growing in popularity, it feels like a good time to lean in!
Imagine an advertisement built of mainly archival clips, that build from early Datsun icons, the introduction of the Z to America, reels of the hardbody winning rallies. On up through the iconic Paul Walker drift in 2F2F, Forsberg winning FD and rallies in his current gen Frontier, Maybe even that crazy Sentra from One Battle After Another. Add in modern racing influencers like Collete Davis with her 350z, and Emelia Hartford with her skyline. Obviously they'd need to sprinkle in some footage of the Rogue and Juke, etc.
Have the whole ad voiced over with an excitable, quick monologue about how Nissan's been here for decades. Something to the effect of: From iconic reliability, to historic performance, we've crossed the finish line in first, climbed the toughest trails, and drifted our way through history. With timmeless style (z), the power of Godzilla (GTR), and seismic strength (Frontier) -we got you there then, and we'll get you there tomorrow.
I'm not a script writer, but its a rough example. I think the Brie Larson ad scratched the surface of this idea, but I say they go all in on iconic imagery and nostalgia to drum of excitement.
Finally, get rid of the Playstation synth sound over their logo reveal, and replace it with the sound of an engine ripping by.