When Fred & Farid puts its spin on the advertising campaign for the launch of a polar exploration ship, SoBARNES naturally has to take a closer look. Welcome aboard Le Commandant Charcot.
Le Commandant Charcot has great ambitions. Equipped with “clean” power technology, the latest addition to the Ponant fleet aims to reinvent exploration cruises. And offer journeys to the two poles never before undertaken, all in unparalleled luxury and world-class French art de vivre. Right up SoBARNES’ street.
All that needed to be done was to get the word out. Ponant (which you may have known under the name Compagnie du Ponant) has called on the services of the in-demand agency Fred & Farid to dust off the old-fashion advertising film. We’re big fans of the result, especially its caption “The North Pole, The South Pole, And You”:
You have to admit they’ve gone all out. The art of presenting a boat without it hardly making an appearance: Indeed, Le Commandant Charcot is only shown for a few seconds in the 2-minute clip!
The voice-over by actor Nathan Wilcocks seems to echo from space. Which was exactly what Fred & Farid intended: “Experiencing the magnetic Poles is a great reminder of our place in the galaxy. We always forget that our blue spaceship is orbiting around the Sun at a speed of 67,000 miles per hour, travelling in space about 1.6 million miles a day. Le Commandant Charcot is a spaceship on Earth.”
So what about the vessel itself? Measuring 150 metres (492 ft.) long and built in Sweden, but flying the flag of France, Le Commandant Charcot can accommodate 245 passengers in the cabins and suites, some of which have private terraces and jacuzzis with a view of the ocean. Boasting two restaurants and a spa, this new breed of vessel is “Class PC2” certified, which means it can break 2.5m (8.5 ft.) of ice with its bow. All while being fuelled by hybrid-electric power, in other words as clean as it comes for a cruise ship these days.
And, of course, the SoBARNESpedia fact to finish off: this vessel owes its name to Jean-Baptiste Charcot (1867-1936), doctor, naval officer and renowned Antarctic explorer. French rugby union footballer and silver medallist at the Paris 1900 Olympics, Jean-Baptiste Charcot was both a sporting personality and an adventurer. And above all a living superstar. His death is worthy of a novel, choosing to stay aboard Pourquoi-Pas ? IV when it was wrecked off the coast of Iceland.
His description of the poles will send a shiver of excitement down your spine; “I now consider that these regions leave a kind of reverent mark on a person. Any man who reaches this place feels his spirit soar.”
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Infos : Ponant.com
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