A new commercial for Volkswagen's 2008 Touareg, in which Matt Damon's character from "The Bourne Ultimatum" races around New York and runs a NYPD car off the road is deliberately made to look like a
movie trailer. Most of the footage is taken from the film, although at the end, two characters look over the wreckage before it cuts to a "Safe happens" tagline.
"It's always fun to
trick the audience because it's not always possible to do that anymore," says Rob Strasberg, vice president and creative director at Crispin. The cross-promotion is part of a three-year deal between
VW and NBC Universal in which VW will spend $40 million, largely on these kinds of marketing campaigns.
So far, VW marques have been featured in films including "Inside Man" and
"Knocked Up," notes Keith Price, spokesman for Volkswagen America. Along with the new spot, there are Webisodes on car stunts from the movie and a "Find Jason Bourne" promotion with Google. "It's not
just a film relationship," says Price. "We have product placement all the way down to their amusement parks."
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at Brandweek »