Wild Chevrons: the incredible epic of Citroën’s most awarded commercial

Since its founding in 1919 by André Citroën, the brand with the double chevron has maintained a true love story with communication. André Citroën himself was a marketing genius, famously lighting up the Eiffel Tower with his name and launching grand expeditions to prove his vehicles' durability. This tradition of boldness has never wavered over the decades. From early graphic posters to the spectacular TV spots of the 80s and 90s, Citroën has always captured the public's imagination with extraordinary creativity. In our series on the brand’s legendary advertisements, we today revisit a pivotal moment: 1984. This was the year "Wild Chevrons" (Les Chevrons Sauvages) was born—a film that not only redefined the brand’s image but also won an unparalleled number of international awards.

Passing the torch: from the Savignac era to Richard Raynal’s poetry

In the early 1980s, Citroën needed a fresh start. The impact of Savignac’s graphic campaigns, though memorable, was beginning to fade. To establish the image of a "new Citroën," Jacques Séguéla and the team at the RSCG agency decided to shift gears completely. Jean-Luc Lenoir, Richard Raynal, and Richard Séguéla formed a creative trio ready to break the rules. Richard Raynal, described as a "poet and bodyguard," wrote and directed the spot that would soon become a cult classic.

The script is a forty-second piece of pure poetry. It imagines a bleak city with deserted avenues where useless traffic lights blink in the shadows. Suddenly, a heavy iron gate slowly creaks open. The silence is torn apart by a violent neigh, followed by the thunderous sound of hooves striking the concrete. The horses are released. They take possession of the urban landscape, manes flowing in the wind. This wild horde makes the pavement vibrate, sweeping through the city like a force of nature before charging into the vastness of the great desert. This is where imagination takes over: the horses gallop toward freedom and toward our dreams.

An epic shoot between Miami’s skyscrapers and the australian outback

Producing this masterpiece required massive resources and international logistics. While the urban scenes, specifically the horses exiting the building, were filmed in Miami, Florida, the final gallop in the desert took place in Australia. Jacques Séguéla recalls with passion that the goal was to create an "immortal" film. For the finale, one hundred thoroughbred horses had to be trained for two months. The technical trick involved holding them with an invisible V-shaped cable so they could maintain a perfect formation at full gallop, effectively drawing the Citroën logo in the sand.

The Miami shoot also provided its share of memorable anecdotes. Jacques Séguéla reports that the horses initially refused to leave the parking garage to head into the streets. It was the local sheriff himself who saved the day: with a single gunshot into the air, he triggered the wild horde’s immediate departure, freezing the moment on film. Finally, once the editing was finished, a concern arose: the final shot of the horses forming the double chevron was so perfect it looked unreal, almost like a special effect. To restore credibility and a natural feel to the scene, Richard Raynal decided to add three stray horses in the background to break the movement's purity. This small detail made the image feel alive and authentic to the audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHy9CQpZ-qg

A shower of awards: the global coronation of the iron horses

The success of "Wild Chevrons" went far beyond public reception; the advertising profession was unanimous in its praise. Never before had a French commercial received such acclaim worldwide. The list of trophies is staggering: a Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the first "Sept d’Or" for advertising, the Minerve d’Or, and the top prize at the Avoriaz Advertising Festival. The film literally swept dozens of foreign awards, crowning Citroën as the undisputed master of automotive communication at the time.

The ultimate achievement was undoubtedly winning the first and only César for Advertising. Georges Cravenne, the creator of the César Awards, wanted filmmakers to recognize the year's best advertisement. Furious at the idea of advertising entering their "temple," some filmmakers demanded its withdrawal, arguing against mixing "tea towels and napkins." However, the artistic power of Wild Chevrons was so undeniable that the award was upheld, remaining a unique moment in the history of French cinema and advertising.

Conclusion: a legend that transcends time

With "Wild Chevrons," Citroën launched a decade of daring advertisements that would mark the history of television and the automobile. This film is astonishing for several reasons: it is a commercial for a car brand where absolutely no vehicle is seen. This radical choice allowed Citroën to position itself not just as a manufacturer, but as a symbol of power, freedom, and innovation. More than forty years later, those horses galloping in unison remain etched in collective memory, confirming that at Citroën, communication is indeed a fine art in its own right.