What the hell is that whirry, rattling, clattering sound? Oh yes, it’s bill bernbach spinning in his grave
Here’s a VW campaign that’s makes Lemon and Snowplough look like two of the greatest ads of all time.
I know they’re two of the greatest ads of all time, but it’s usually the job of Cillit Bang and Go Compare to really emphasise that.
Here, one of the most awarded brands in advertising history has decided to try the old ‘give five dicks our product and see what they get up to’ thing.
I’ve seen this done for many, many brands (I think it won a Pencil for some guys in 2009), and it never fails to depress me with its combination of laziness, dullness and familiarity.
“We want to engage and activiate key target groups with our new digital campaign and tell individual product stories that people can identify with and enjoy sharing with others”, Giovanni Perosino, Head of Marketing Communications at Volkswagen, explained. “The tour made by our six trendsetters will become a story about summer, freedom, adventure and lifestyle – and the Beetle Cabriolet embodies all of those.”
You could literally replace the words ‘Beetle Cabriolet’ with Nokia 357G, Canon Eos, Pepsi Max, Maybelline or pretty much anything and it’d work just fine.
‘Have you ever wondered how the trendsetter who does twatty things drives to his twatty things? This one drives a Beetle Cabriolet’.
And if you want proof of how insipid this idea is, see how long you can spend watching this without thinking a negative thought about the people who produced it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpD0omgjVio&feature=player_embedded
UPDATE: oh, shit. There’s a reading list.
Trendy artist ask surfer on beach “what is your ‘as sun as possible’ moment”.
Surfer points to beach and says “this”.
And people are going to watch this over their box set of Breaking Bad because?
“The most common misconception is that good advertising is clever puns. Everyone trying to get a job in advertising has a a portfolio full of puns about products. A pun is only a figure of speech and it should be avoided as a rule.”
Seems like they eventually DID get a job.
Yeah, but puns are popular in the States, because ‘people like them because they know what they are’. *sigh*
Gnarly.
Not.
So successfully this ad has made me want to stay away from a VW for the next 2 years..
With products I most of the time feel that I want the lifestyle depicted that represents ‘now’, that when I look back.. I was one of those guys and it was part of our culture, materialistic? of course.
So surfing…well this is not the mid 00’s and I’m not wearing a Billabong shorts or a Mambo shirt so I don’t get how this concept got clearance?
This is not to mention the fact they’ve gone to a Volcom event, why not just tap into an undocumented surf scene on beach in Fiji?
it would make a far more story and not look so ‘dickish’ walking past surf groupies..
Also I’d prefer to see this done by a company like Somesuch & Co, I’m sick of polished, unrealistic visuals.
I like how Alan Bennett misread the ‘Fat Face’ store sign as ‘Rat Faeces’. He had a point.
@GB
But they didn’t did they?
Yes – it says ‘we went to the Volcom’ event. But they never did. They stood on an under populated beach in a gale then knitted in some big wave / contest footage.
If you ever saw Blue Juice there’s a similar scene. “Boneyards” is meant to be some terrifying break – and there’s Sean Pertwee sat on a board in a lake. Cut to monster wave about to kill him.
Rubbish. The VW film falls for the same trick. Forget Somesuch – there are loads of surf film makers who could have made this much, much better.
Couldn’t have made the idea any good though.
I’m a creative originally from Cornwall, dude.
And I couldn’t get past the minute barrier.
Sickkkk.