Stellantis-owned car brand Citroën was founded in March 1919 following André Citroën’s experience of manufacturing armaments for the French army during World War I. The first car was announced just months after the end of the war and exhibited in Paris.

More than 100 years since that day, the company has gone on to become one of France’s most iconic international brands, selling more than 780,000 vehicles in 2021 alone.

Despite that heritage and success, the brand discovered that in one South American territory—Peru—its younger drivers did not associate Citroën with its country of origin.

This led to tasking its local advertising agency VMLY&R Lima with rectifying the oversight, resulting in a campaign being produced that would place the cars among other legends of France.

With “The French Re-connection” campaign, the agency set about taking advantage of some of the most famous pieces of French art, using generative artificial intelligence to compose work from the country’s iconic artists: Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Eugene Delacroix, Paul Cézanne and Edouard Manet.

The recreation of each artistic masterpiece would include something a bit different this time: the best known Citroën vehicles. Each painting also carries a different statement, for example: “Citroën is as French as Monet.”

The collection was distributed on the brand’s social media channels and within virtual galleries to target younger Peruvians to make the connection between the work and the car brand.

An AI-generated explainer video has also been released alongside the four pieces of art.

CREDITS

Agency: VMLY&R Lima

Advertiser: Derco

Brand: Citroën

CEO: Eduardo Grisolle
ECD: Christian “Tin” Sánchez
COO: Giselle Sara
CD: Miguel Estela / Jefferson Cortavarria
Art Director: Jean Navarro
VFX Artist: Jorge Albornoz
Copywriters: Kimberlie Fernández / Jefferson Cortavarria
Account Team: Team Leader – Melissa Sarrio // Supervisor – Indira Cruz
Producer: Fabinho Pando
Marketing chief: Cristian Córdova
Brand manager: José Bedoya