More than 5m views, with no spaceships in sight

You’ve probably already seen this viral Star Trek video for Audi featuring Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy called ‘The Challenge’. In fact, at the time of publishing, the spot has more than 5 million views on YouTube. That’s even more amazing seeing as it never actually mentions Star Trek, and also that the ‘official’ car of Star Trek: Into Darkness (which releases in the US this weekend) isn’t Audi. It’s Mazda.


The spot was directed by duo Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs for agency PMK BNC. Another example of clever ambush marketing in the piece include the Vulcan nerve punch and the Nimoy classic “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins”, plus the famous quote from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

And stay tuned next week for fxguide’s full in-depth coverage of Star Trek: Into Darkness.