Volkswagen Surprises Pedestrians with a Beat Boxing Electric Vehicle

Volkswagen E-Up Beatbox

Over the years we’ve become accustomed to sound of traditional gas-powered vehicles, but electric vehicles run relatively silent at low speeds making them a potential danger to blind or the disabled. Earlier this year the US government required that all EVs produce some kind of sound until they reach 17 mph. Exactly what those sounds will end up being has been open to debate and creative thinking.

Interactive agency DDB Tribal used the silent-running Volkswagen E-Up to demonstrate one creative solution involving vocalist and beatbox artist Fatih Sahin.

[via Car Scoops]

Sweden

How Quick Can You Click? Volkswagen Races Into Your Web Banner

Volkswagen GTi Bannenbahn

Banner Blindness is the name given to explain one of the reasons that internet users ignore banner ads. In fact Doubleclick has reported that the average click through rate for banner ads in the U.S. is a measly 0.11%.

However, this Friday (Sept 13) ad agency ACHTUNG! and Volkswagen will have internet users in the Netherlands paying extra attention to the banner ads on 4 of the country’s most popular web sites, including nu.nl, telegraaf.nl, autoweek.nl, and geenstijl.nl.

The agency will bring the banners to life with a live video feed from a local airport runway where 20 x 25 metre versions of the web pages have been reproduced. On Friday from noon to 4pm (Netherlands time) a stunt driver will pilot a Volkswagen GTi around the runway, speeding and sliding across the reproductions of the web page and through the banner ads. Internet users with quick reflexes have to click on the car when it appears. At the end of the day, the user with the quickest reflexes wins the car in real life.

While only people in the Netherlands can win the car, everyone can test their reflexes at gtibannerbahn.nl.

The Making of Bannerbahn

[via http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/volkswagen-bannerbahn-live-banner-challenge/]

Netherlands

Red Stripe Ref Makes the Official Call on ‘That’ Super Bowl Car Commercial

Red Stripe Ref Makes Official Call on VW Ad

Jamaican beer brand Red Stripe may not name the brand in question, but anyone who follows advertising knows how Volkswagen’s official Super Bowl ad ‘Get Happy’ has stirred up controversy. The ad features a a white office guy (from Minnesota, Land of a “Towsend” Lakes) speaking with a distinctive Jamaican accent, eventually winning over his glum co-workers with his ‘no worries’ attitude.

In an article on the Mercury News, VW spokesman, Scott Vazin said critics have it all wrong, “If you look at the whole intent of the commercial for us, it’s about making people happy. The idea is to put a smile on your face. It’s simple and human and humorous.”

The clip was just one in a series posted to Red Stripe’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook during and just after the game, with shout-outs to Beyonce’s half-time show, and the winning coach Harbaugh.

[via Meme Machine]

JamaicaUSA

Volkswagen Taps Jimmy Cliff and Unhappy Viral Video Stars for Pre-Super Bowl Clip

Volkswagen Super Bowl - Jimmy Cliff

For this year’s Volkswagen pre-Super Bowl spot (we have pre-ads now?) Deutsch L.A. has tapped reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, star of the 1972 movie ‘The Harder They Come’. That movie was critical in helping expose the music of Jamaica to an international audience. Cliff is featured in the clip singing his updated version of the Patridge Family theme song ‘Come on Get Happy’.

Along side Cliff, are several people who were caught being very ‘unhappy’ on YouTube, including Debbie; the cat-crazy woman from the ‘eHarmony Video Bio’ (which was not a bio at all, but a marketing promotion for Dutch company Pretty Social), Ohio Republican candidate Phil Davison, who loses his mind in a campaign speech, Casey, the inconsolable Packers fan, Francis, the guy who destroys his xBox after being called fat, two scrapping mascots, and minor-league baseball manager Phillip Wellman, who went on a legendary base-throwing tirade.

Cliff’s version of Come on Get Happy, along with several ringtones are available for free download.

[via AgencySpy]

USAPull-Ups First Flush

Speedy VWs Face-Off Against Fast Talkers, Beat Boxers and More

Volkswagen Fast vs Fast

To help remind potential car buyers that their cars are not just sensible transportation, Volkswagen has created a series of tongue-in-cheek ‘Fast vs Fast’ challenges to demonstrate that their cars are nit just sensible, but speedy too. The challengers must demonstrate their speed skills before the car completes a lap… while riding along in the passenger seat.

The challengers include: Beat-boxer J-Flo, speed-talker Fran Capo, speed guitarist John Taylor, and Anthony Brooks, master Rubik’s cube solver.

Volkswagen isn’t messing around either, they’ve hired race car driver and stuntman Eric Norris, (son of ‘the’ Chuck Norris as their wheel man in the challenges.

The Fast vs Fast clips were created by Deutsch and produced by Recommended Media.

via Agency Spy

Volkswagen GTI vs. Beat Boxer

Volkswagen Jetta GLI vs. Speed Talker

Volkswagen Golf R vs. Speed Rubik’s Cuber

Volkswagen Jetta GLI vs. Speed Guitarist

USA

Volkswagen Netherlands Builds the Social Media Fanwagen for Facebook Fan

Volkswagen Fanwagen EditionVolkswagen Netherlands is going to build and give away the world’s most social car, and they’re asking their Facebook fans to select which classic Volkswagen; the Beetle or the T1, becomes the ‘VW Fanwagen’.

Each vehicle will feature a dashboard-mounted Feed-o-Matic that prints out the latest updates from your newsfeed; a ‘poke button’ (actually the horn) sits on the steering wheel and a manually updated relationship status indicator below the rear license plate that’ll keep other driver’s informed of your intentions.

Privacy settings are included in the form of window-curtains, a note pad enables instant updates that can be pinned to your (corkboard) wall. The car comes in Social Blue, Cool Comment Grey, Zuckerberg Silver and Winterkorn White (named after Dr. Winterkorn, VW CEO). Check out the Owner’s Manual for the T1 and Beetle yourselves.

The first vehicle that reaches 20,000 ‘Likes’ will become the Fanwagen (so far the T1 is leading the Beetle with 68% of the ‘likes’), and upon completion the first eligible participant (you have to be 18 and have a Dutch driver’s license) to claim the vehicle gets to drive it away.

The campaign was created by Dutch agency Achtung!

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Randy MathesonI am a Nova Scotia raised Creative Guy, currently Director of Emerging Media at Delvinia, a Digital Strategy & Customer Experience Design Firm in Toronto. I’m a huge fan of the creative use of digital technologies in social media, marketing, sports and entertainment. I use this blog to share the more interesting examples that I find. If you’re in need of a break, join me over at Madtini.com for a cocktail.