Volkswagen 'Crash' Ads Get Results
The recent Crispin Porter + Bogusky-created Volkwagen Jetta ads in which two Jettas are involved in real accidents filmed in one shot with stunt drivers are reported to have generated positive results. The ads, which began April 10 and carry the tagline "Safe Happens," have, according to Volkswagen as reported in USA Today, increased online dealer quote requests by 58 percent and increased brochure requests though call centers 37 percent and 56 percent through the web. Results happen. Now, maybe, we can all give CP+B a break and realize they do actually create good work. View the ads here and here.
Comments
The new VW ads are of course brilliant.
What bugs me is a piece in Adweek quotes DDB New York creative director Lee Garfinkel saying: "I kind of applaud anybody who does something that goes against the norm... now let's wait and see if it translates into sales."
For Christ's sake, Lee. Do you really have to check the sales figures before you can decide whether it's a good ad or not?
Mind you, the quote from Kathy Delaney, chief creative officer and president of Deutsch New York, is totally moronic. "They don't give any reason why a VW Jetta is safer," she says. Well, first of all, there is a super on the endframe that says 'Number 1 performer in side impact crash tests' or something. So she's blind. And second of all, who needs a reason for everything? Was there a reason for Whassup? Was there a reason for PlayStation 'Mountain'? Call Procter & Gamble, Kathy. Maybe they're hiring.
I could have sworn we saw some drunk driving ads exactly like these VW ads just recently. POV shot from driver's seat while girl in passenger seat says, "When are you going to stop drinking and driving?" She runs through a couple scenarios until over her shoulder you see the car about to T-Bone them and them collide. Does nobody remember this?
Yup...we covered them. You can read about it here:
http://www.adrants.com/2006/02/dread-and-shock-used-in-canadian-drunk-dr.php
I saw the T-bone ad the other evening here in Austin, TX. It a very good ad - stands out from the Detroit droning about X thousand off, "cash back" and their other lies. On the downside, this ad dialed up all the anger from 4 years ago when a Ford wielding female shot a red, going around stopped cars, and took out my 4-Motion Passat which I just bought 3 months before. My veedub was thrown about 60 feet and spun 180 degrees. I was fine but my unibody veedub was written off. I got an Audi with the payout as finding a VW 4-motion proved next to impossible. And talking about ads, the local pathetic "Fawd is the bjest in Tjexas" kun-tree jitty in the Fraud, er, Ford ads gets my blood pressure up and has me switch channels instantly.