Commentary

Car Clowning

Open the doors to Volkswagen's Passat mini-site (www.vw.com/passat) and, much like clowns emerging from a VW, 120 offbeat nano-movies rush out. Two cartoon blokes clearing their noses illustrate the car's dual-tone horn, while a live geyser signifies the heated windshield washer nozzles. Not once in this branded mini-film festival is the car itself apparent. "We give the audience analogies to figure out. Some thinking is required," says Ron Lawner, CEO, Arnold Worldwide, which came up with Passat's "Not-So-Standard Features" campaign.

The campaign for the VW 120, which ran from October to December, included TV spots, online banners, e-mail alerts on new short films, and viral "send to a friend" options. "We never talk down to an audience for Volkswagen," Lawner says. "We always defined the brand by the people who drive it." The past tense is no mistake: This was among Arnold's last campaigns for VW, which moved the account to Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Cue the clowns to pile back into the Beetle.

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