NEW YORK VW Canada wants people to go out and commit random acts of road joy.
The Canadian arm of the German car manufacturer last week launched an integrated campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky for its City Jetta and City Golf cars.
The campaign is comprised of three 30-second TV spots and interactive, print and out-of-home ads.
In the 30-second “Guerilla Car Wash,” a group of young people tool about the streets in a seemingly aimless fashion in their City Jetta. Spotting a dusty non-VW car parked by the side of the road, they pull up beside it and spring into action. As the townsfolk look on, they place orange traffic cones around the car and proceed to give it a much-needed wash. The narrator then intones, “You agree to commit a blatant act of road joy and we’ll give you a City Jetta for $16,900.”
“Road rage is on the rise, and we thought if we could use cars to spread goodwill, that would be a great thing,” said Scott Linnen, vp, cd at Crispin in Miami. “In order to get one of the cars, you have to agree to commit a random act of road joy. While we’re not going to enforce it, for the most part VW drivers are the type that it will catch on with.”
People who purchase either car will be able to go to VW’s micro site, vwroadjoy.ca, and sign up to commit their own act of road joy or have VW’s street teams take on the task. Acts range from the easy to accomplish, such as “Give cyclists an extra three feet when passing,” to the more involved “See how many tractor-trailer drivers you can get to honk in symphonic road joy harmony.”
The out-of-home work, set to launch in November, depicts life-size cars with actual bubbles emerging through the rooftop. The brochures for the cars, given out at dealerships, also carry the “road joy” message. They have stickers that can be placed on cars exhorting those who read it to commit road joy.
“The campaign positions the product as an authentic German-engineered vehicle that still has the DNA that makes it a Volkswagen,” said Bruce Rosen, general manager, marketing communications for VW Canada.
VW, Crispin Unveil 'Road Joy' Campaign
