Before you ask: yes they really did chop up a car. Spark’s latest campaign aimed to capture joy and optimism. But first came the angle grinder.
When Hannah Bay heard the brief about sending a quarter of a car on a journey powered by Spark’s network, she thought: “What could be more captivating?”
The story, pitched by creative agency Colenso BBDO, follows a young woman named Sam whose phone isn’t working. After she borrows her friend’s Spark-powered device, Sam’s world is transformed. Her section of the car breaks away, setting off on a ride of its own.
Before the campaign took shape, Spark’s creative team conducted customer testing, drawing on feedback reflecting its new brand positioning: ‘It’s better with Spark.’
“Our customers talked about our network as an enabler for this kind of wonderful, bigger, better life,” says Bay, Spark New Zealand’s brand experience chapter area lead.
“One mother told us Spark gives her the reassurance of always being able to call her daughter.
“We also had a few gamers who spoke about the importance of Tetris on the way to work,” she laughs.
“Wonder and joy are what we want this campaign to leave New Zealanders feeling, and this script really captured that sense of optimism.”
The telco partnered with production company The Sweetshop to make the quarter-car road trip – symbolising new possibilities and connections the network enables – happen.
And… cut!
Sam rides off in the quarter car, which takes her around Auckland, visiting spots including Onehunga Wharf and the Sky Tower’s Orbit 360 restaurant.
Along the way, she befriends Mrs Kim and Lilly the goat, falls in love with Quinn and eventually reunites with her mate in the rest of the car.
But did it really happen? Yep, the car really did have a chunk cut off – and it really did go on a tour of the city.
Sam toured around Auckland in her quarter car.
“The production team are magicians – they worked wonders,” says Bay. But before the passenger section could move independently, they first had to cut it apart.
“We’d never cut up a car like that for an ad before, so a lot of testing was done. We used a mixture of machines, including an angle grinder with abrasive or diamond disks for the metal parts, Dremels for the plastic bits and a large bandsaw for the engine.
“The glass was the trickiest bit – the curves made it hard to get a clean break, so we had to try two methods. First, we used a glass cutter and flammable fluid to melt the lamination, and then a solid diamond disk on an angle grinder. The whole process took the art department several days to disassemble the car bit by bit, before piecing everything back together,” she says.
Magic in post
After the exterior was carefully cut, the art department filled the vehicle with all the things you might find inside – like lip balm and a CD – sliced in half.
From there, the production team figured out a way to make the quarter car roll away.
They shot the ad using two vehicles: a whole one and the other that had been cut.
“The quarter car and the three-quarters car were towed behind other vehicles. We filmed them while being towed and then removed the towing cars in post-production to make it look like they were moving on their own,” Bay explains.
“For the splitting scene, the cars were positioned farther apart during filming. They were then towed away from each other, and it was post-production magic that made it appear as though the intact car split in two.”
Embrace the rain
Bay says working with director Damien Shatford was eye-opening.
“The way Damien can visualise everything and piece it together in his mind is truly special.”
Shatford even managed to turn Auckland’s bad weather into a highlight, she adds.
“All I can say is, don’t shoot in spring – the weather was our biggest challenge throughout. But the beauty of having an exceptional director is that Damien just leaned into it and made some gold out of it.
“In the scene near the end, Sam is quite wet from the rain. None of that was planned – we just decided to embrace it. At one point we honestly thought it was even better than if it had been sunny, bluebird weather the whole time.”
It’s better with Spark
That scene is also where the best friends and the car reunite on the Auckland Harbour Bridge – with Mrs Kim, Lilly and Quinn in the back seat.
“When the two halves of the car reunite, the tow truck was replaced with a very determined crew member, who carefully guided the quarter car by hand, pushing it back into place,” Bay laughs.
“This campaign focuses on the emotional benefits of our network, rather than just the functional features, but it’s also part of something bigger,” she says.
“‘It’s better with Spark’ is a five-year plan designed to deliver a stronger network and better customer experiences at every touchpoint.
“And if we get it wrong, we’ll make it right – and be better. We want people to feel that Spark is a reliable, safe network that gives them the confidence to live a bigger, more joyous life and focus on what matters most to them.”
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 85, Dec 2025-Feb 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
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