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Grey Poupon to air new version of famous Rolls-Royce ad, this time with car chase [w/video]

Grey Poupon mustard will revive the concept behind its famous Pardon Me commercials with a new ad that will air only once on television during this Sunday's broadcast of the Academy Awards.
The original spot, which showed two one-percenters sharing the condiment between their Rolls-Royces at an intersection, first aired all the way back in 1981, and variations of it continued up through 1997. Kraft, owner of the Grey Poupon brand, is hoping that reviving the commercial will boost sagging sales and raise the mustard's profile with a younger generation of fancy folk.
So why are we talking about this on Autoblog? Because the new version of the ad won't end with a polite passing of the bottle. Rather, we're told a car chase ensues when the Grey Poupon's owner doesn't get it back. We're assuming the two cars in question will again be a pair of Rolls-Royce sedans, probably Phantoms unless they go with more vintage model years.

Rolls-Royce celebrates brand's 120th with Ghost Prism

The Ghost might be Rolls-Royce’s smaller, “entry-level” car, but those words donÂ’t mean much when referring to the storied British automaker. With an almost $350,000 starting price, the Ghost is nearly as exclusive as its larger counterparts, but the recently announced Prism model will be even harder to get. Rolls said it would produce just 120 units of the car to celebrate its 120th anniversary in 2024, though itÂ’s unclear how many are already sold. As these things typically go, high-value clients and famous people tend to get the first crack at exclusive models, as theyÂ’re meant to be rolling advertisements for the brand. Last year was the brandÂ’s best ever, as it moved more than 6,000 vehicles in 2023, with America and record growth in the Middle East leading the charge. The automakerÂ’s demo car came in Gunmetal gray, which it said took 16 hours of hand polishing and a ten-step process that involves four layers of paint application. A high-gloss black-gray color is applied to the grille and trunk lid, which involves polishing the paints to such a high-gloss finish that they appear metallic. The dark colors highlighted with bolder hues are meant to convey the appearance of a prism, hence the carÂ’s name. Buyers can choose between four accent colors: Forge Yellow, Mandarin, Phoenix Red, and Mandarin. The color is applied to the brake calipers, lower bumper inserts and coachline, which Rolls said is a styling element that ties together the “mechanical, aerodynamic, and sculptural elements of Ghost.” Inside, the car gets Rolls-RoyceÂ’s famous Starlight Headliner with 1,040 individual LED “stars” across the interior roof. While these exclusive features are selling points for the Ghose Prism, Rolls said buyers still get access to its entire catalog of colors, materials, and options. Most people extend the automakerÂ’s already extreme purchase prices by several thousand dollars, pushing the average purchase price far above what we see on paper. Related Video

I got to see the Rolls-Royce Dawn

It may look like a Wraith convertible, but that doesn't do this new Rolls justice. In mid-May, Rolls-Royce announced the name of its forthcoming convertible: Dawn. Two days after that news was released, I saw the new car in Beverly Hills, CA. And as you can probably guess from earlier spy shots, not to mention my choice of lead photo, it looks like a Wraith convertible. Well, sort of. Before getting a full briefing of the new Dawn, I was frisked, security guards waved handheld metal detectors around my limbs, and my iPhone was confiscated. I was left standing outside a glamorous mansion with no more than a blue notebook, a pen, a glass of champagne, and gorgeous views of the Hollywood hills and Pacific Ocean. I was told to keep my mouth shut about everything I was about to see, until further notice. So no, I can't tell you everything I know about the Rolls-Royce Dawn; the company wants to save some information for the car's official unveiling in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. I don't have photos. I don't even have a napkin sketch. Instead, I'm now allowed to tell you my impressions of the car I saw. It may look like a Wraith convertible, but that phrase alone doesn't do this new Rolls justice. Fabulous places. Shared social occasions. That's the sort of imagery Rolls-Royce wants to convey with the Dawn. In an effort to really convey this, Rolls-Royce opted to give the car a totally different name – that's why it isn't called Wraith Drophead Coupe, like the convertible version of the flagship Phantom. "'Dawn' perfectly expresses the character of the new Rolls-Royce. In its tentative, inchoate, anticipatory state, dawn is the world coming to light from the ethereal dark of the night," the company said in its original release. The Dawn name also harks back to the incredibly exclusive Silver Dawn from the 1950s, pictured above. Fabulous places and fabulous people. Shared social occasions. That's the sort of imagery Rolls-Royce wants to convey with the Dawn. After a hearing details that shall not be mentioned here (yet), I met the Dawn for the first time. The car drove up a path to the Beverly Hills mansion's courtyard, top up, modern music playing in the background. This was the first time in recent memory that a convertible was introduced with its roof affixed, but this was intentional. With the roof on, the differences between Wraith and Dawn are immediately noticeable. View 8 Photos With the roof up, the big droptop sort of looks like a hot rod.