Peugeot built 'the world's snakiest road' from drones that copied a real snake

Launch the new 508 SW estate worldwide and show that precision comes naturally to Peugeot, in a sector that Peugeot's marketing chief said tends to rest on its laurels.

Build a road that wriggles like a snake out of hundreds of flying drones, then make a driver slalom the 508 SW through it without touching one.

BETC searched a month for the windiest real road, found none demanding enough, and made its own. A Bull Snake's movements were captured with a 3D scanner and exported by drone specialist Dronisos into flight software, so drones formed a moving road. Stunt driver San Yelamos drove it overnight at an abandoned airport in Athens.

The source reports no results. It says the launch film, directed by Colin Tilley and produced by Phantasm, would air on TV from 26 May 2019, with more films on digital channels.

In May 2019 Peugeot launched the 508 SW with 'The World's Snakiest Road', a campaign by agency BETC. BETC creative director David Martin Angelus said the team spent over a month searching for the windiest road in the world and decided none was challenging enough for the car, so it created its own.

The road was modelled on a real animal. The movements of a Bull Snake, described as one of the world's fastest snakes, were captured with a 3D scanner. Drone specialist Dronisos exported them into flying software, which turned the snake's motion into a winding road formed by hundreds of drones that moved in real time.

Stunt driver San Yelamos had to navigate the shifting route in the Peugeot 508 SW without hitting any drone, relying on the car's i-Cockpit for precise handling. The shoot ran through a whole night at an abandoned airport in Athens. Colin Tilley, known for music videos, directed, and Phantasm produced.

Thierry Lonziano, Peugeot's global marketing and communication director, said it was essential that the stunt be a world first. He said the campaign was meant to reflect the brand's upmarket move: never take anything for granted, take risks, go the extra mile.

The snake is a concrete, memorable image for 'precision': the road's twists are unpredictable, so the driver's accuracy is visible rather than claimed.

Using a scanned real animal's motion gave the stunt a rule-based, believable origin instead of a random drone pattern.

Building the course meant the obstacle could be as hard as the story needed, with no real road to match.

Casting it as a world first gave the launch a news hook beyond the car's spec sheet.

When no real location is hard enough to prove your product's claim, build the obstacle yourself, and make it a spectacle the product can visibly beat.

The source reports no results beyond the launch plan: the main film was to air on TV from 26 May 2019, with additional films pushed on digital channels.