From TBWA\Chiat\Day LA in partnership with ACE Broadcasting comes a campaign for the Nissan Versa starring former Loveline/The Man Show host and current podcaster extraordinaire, Adam Carolla.
Though often quite offensive and irreverent when given a stage of any sort, Carolla tones it down quite a bit for the above video, which plays off of the radio host’s name sounding a lot like one of the Versa’s biggest competitors in the subcompact category, the Toyota Corolla. In fact, it runs this joke into the ground for three whole minutes, which is a little more than three times the average life expectancy of a pun like this. When it comes to alter-egos, Carolla’s “Ace Rockola” has “Adam Versa” beat by more than 34 highway miles to the gallon.
The social media aspect of the campaign, “My Versa Road Trip,” is a bit more interesting. On the site, users create a road trip route using Google Maps, select additional passengers using Facebook and compete for a free Nissan Versa. It’s pretty fun in practice, but observing other participants’ is literally as interesting as watching a blue dot slowly traverse Google Maps. And, those disappointed by Carolla’s weak showing in the intro video might be a little happier knowing that he gets let off his leash a bit in later installments of the series (see below).