Immensely popular/boring band Walk Off The Earth play the same bland song in three different styles for Red Urban’s new interactive VW spot, directed by Wendy Morgan.
Users can select to hear the song “Gang of Rhythm” in three different versions, each shot at a different location and paired with a different Beetle, and even switch back and forth while the song plays out. They can choose “Playful” mode for the Beetle Convertible, “Soulful” mode for the Super Beetle, or “Powerful” mode for the Beetle GSR. The song sounds like it was written for a car commercial, so I guess it’s appropriate enough. That doesn’t make it any more listenable, though. Gimmicky attempts to use the Beetle in the music abound: In one version, it’s the sound of the car’s engine, while in another it’s one of the Walk Off The Earth dudes drumming on the car.
According to Christina Yu, ECDof Red Urban Canada, the collaboration was the band’s idea. “Volkswagen got a call from the band one day,” she says, “apparently they are big Volkswagen fans and wanted to collaborate…We thought it was a great idea, so immediately started developing the ideas for the video.”
One thing we can take from this is that interactive seems to be in at the moment, especially in work for car companies. WCRS had their virtual test drive for the BMWi3, and Campfire had that “Deja View” spot for Infiniti. This particular spot’s interactive element (or gimmick, depending on your stance) is a pretty sound one, and the fluidity with which you can switch between the different styles in the video is well-executed. If I had been able to stomach the music, I could have even enjoyed it. Credits after the jump.Credits:
Agency: Red Urban
Creative Director: Christina Yu
Art Director: Alicia Outschoorn
Writers: Cooper Evoy & Jon Taylor
Agency Producer: Andrea Hull
Director, Digital Strategy & Social Media: Nicole Milette
Account Director: Sonia Ruckemann
Sr. Account Executive: Beatrice Recio
Production Company: Untitled Films
Director: Wendy Morgan
Director of Photography: John Houtman
Executive Producer: Lexy Kavluk
Line Producer: Michael Smith
Editor: Dave De Carlo, Rooster Post
Flame Artist: Andrew Rolfe, Fort York
Colourist: Wade Odlum, Alter Ego
Senior Developer: Ricardo Peters