It’s hard to get people to pay attention to messages that they need to hear, but Volkswagen is doing just that with its new ad campaign aimed at moviegoers. In less than a minute, Volkswagen gives these unsuspecting moviegoers an important reminder that they needed to experience in order to get it.
Will you get it? Watch the video below to find out:
The advertising stunt by Ogilvy Bejing is accomplished using a close-range mobile broadcasting device to push an SMS message to moviegoers at the exact right moment to elicit the correct response. Moviegoers get a big surprise the minute they glance down to check their phones as the scene quickly changes to an illustration of the dangers of distracted driving.
Why it’s garnering so much attention is through the use of clever headlines on the part of social sharers. “These People Whip Out Their Phones In A Movie Theater. They Never Saw It Coming!” followed by the post description: “In less than 2 minutes, these moviegoers will get an unexpected surprise.” It both serves to create curiosity AND manage expectations.
Readers want to know what happens and they are already assured that it will take them less than 2 minutes to find out. This begins the viral loop because when they find out the extreme value of the ad, they in turn share back to their social networks. Good work, Volkswagen for bringing this important issue to the forefront.
