Volkswagen’s Fun Theory Campaign
VW’s Swedish agency, DDB, turned a flight of stairs and a trash can into interactive installations in Sweden and filmed people’s reactions. The videos quickly became viral hits (stats). They show that subway passengers will choose the stairs over an escalator if the stairs are converted into a huge piano. People are more likely to throw garbage into a trash can that makes an exaggerated dropping sound than a regular, silent bin. They’ll also try to investigate if the trash can is, indeed, the deepest one on earth as its signage claims. You see, you can change people’s habits if you just add some fun to the desired behavior!
Haha, let’s hang out on YouTube and watch people get some exercise, finally. I relate to the stairs video because working out is something I say I’ll do, but then, you know! I’d work out if it were more fun, but who am I to try to find a fun athletic activity for myself? Sigh. Walking up a flight of stairs a day can totally improve your well being. I keep thinking about this ad when I head out of the subway station (even when I’m not going to Tranan at Odenplan LOL). It’s really great to watch other people going through the same things that I do in my daily life.
Those people are idiots for buying into corporate marketing, but they’re also healthier for it. It kind of balances out sometimes. It’s hard to work out and be healthy because large corporations keep us inside big offices all day and feed us fast foods. So, yeah, I’m glad one of them stepped up and took over bullshit my ex-roomie would call personal obligations for my health. It takes a big initiative like that to get people to change for the better.
Look, when I’m at a park, I wanna have fun. I’m outside! I don’t wanna think about garbage. I recycle at home, but trash is gross. Or sometimes you forget. This world’s deepest bin trick is awesome because it reminds people not to litter. I guess you have to make it more fun to keep things clean.
Someone once said that all you know about fun you learned at kindergarten, so this cartoon sound is basically all that we know about fun. I got grounded a lot as a kid for my messy room, but I would have totally made my bed if my sheets boinked and zwamped!
It’s easy to come up with the right things everyone should do. Okay, maybe it’s not that easy, maybe you need to live in a large, dynamic city where they have Ivy Plus events. But anyway we know what a person ought to be doing to be like a legitimate human being. Now let’s take those standards and apply them to the real world, where you need to trick people into being healthy and clean.
It’s sometimes tough to break through all the barriers that corporations and gov agencies put up for you, including the basic need to be together as a community. The T-Mobile and Coca Cola flash mob ads were just the beginning. I’m curious to see what VW does next!
The campaign site in Swedish or English
Credits
Advertising Agency: DDB Stockholm, Sweden
Copywriter: Martin Lundgren
Art Director: Simon Higby
Account director: Martin Larsson
Creative Director: Andreas Dahlqvist
Planner: Jerker Fagerström
Web Director: Simon Mogren
Web Producer: Pontus Kindblad
Web Producer: Daniel Alinder
Web Designer: Karl-Johan Vogelius
Film Production Company: Birth
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