Category: fun

Had this idea while thinking about metaphors and creating an emotional connection. It’s a nice little one.

I like that the brand isn’t super in your face but it still presents the themes of innovative design (hybrid!), enduring value (save money on gas), and everyday motoring pleasure (road trip adventures 🙂 ) well.

I’m a fan of Google.
As a brand, as a company, and as a web browser (Chrome is beautiful, fast and user friendly) Google goes above and beyond, with lots of funny little hidden jokes along the way. On Chrome, for example, when shockwave or flash player crashes, a page saying “He’s dead Jim.” would appear. This is a clever little reference to all the dispensable characters in the TV show “Star Trek”. Likewise, when there are internet connectivity problems, a cute like pixelated T-Rex shows up on your webpage along with your error message; a reference to the Tyrannosaurus in “Meet the Robinsons” whose arms were too short to reach what it wanted. The most recent chrome update has actually made that little guy just a little more fun. The space bar or up arrow key on most computers initiates a game with our short-armed friend, something cute and entertaining for when your internet has issues.

I think what Google does in these instances is really quite powerful. Inserting a little humor into situations that are typically a source of frustration and annoyance really helps build your brand. That got me thinking about a suggestion I had made a while back in a comment, something about a game on a billboard for when you’re stuck in traffic. While it doesn’t have to be on a billboard, VW doing something to make traffic jams, an unpleasant hassle for all drivers, into something fun is a great chance to build the brand through brand experiences. I’ve played around with the idea of a “VW Button” but what would it do? Maybe you push it and it inserts fun into everyday things. Doesn’t something like that exist already though?… I’ll stick with the traffic jam idea.

This idea is NOT realistic but that’s okay, because I’m realistic a little too often. This one is for the ridiculous.

Same premise as post 25, extra boring traffic jam, but this time let’s use the billboard. Let’s do the ‘hidden camera’ style thing and include footage of the set up. The billboard is an LCD screen, or whatever the electronic billboards usually are, and powerful loudspeakers are installed in the area where the billboard is visible. During regular traffic, it flips between ordinary ads. We see rush hour roll around and things come to a four-line virtual stand still. Suddenly we see the billboard flash brightly a few times and a boot-up sound pipes over the loudspeakers. A ten second countdown next to a picture of a chair flashes on the billboard. At zero a buzzer sounds and music starts playing (all fairly well known songs). most people are probably still confused but the first few catch on. Some car doors open and we see a chinese fire drill in progress. The music stops abruptly and those who are playing do a mad dash back into their cars as a picture of a chair flashes on the billboard. More people start to understand. As the music starts again, more car doors open as people join in. the game gets bigger each time and eventually the traffic-jam annoyance is forgotten. When the game ends the billboard flashes “Thank you for playing.” “Fun. Powered by VW.”

I admit it, I’m a premature merry-maker. I Love the holidays with a capital “L”. The older I get, the more I enjoy the season. Maybe it’s because I’m a christmas baby, maybe some other less obvious reason, who knows? I’m not here to analyze why I’m so happily listening to instrumental christmas music right now, I’m just savoring the moment. The other day I was listening to “Frosty the Snowman” and I heard a line that caught me kind of off guard: “he could laugh & play just the same as you and me.” Dahww that just gives you the warm fuzzies, doesn’t it? Except, when you really think about it, how many of us actually remember how to laugh and play? Most of us get swept up into the whirlwind chaos of studying and finals and packing and visiting home and family drama and food and gifting stress and party-seeking and we sort of forget about the ‘laugh & play’. We’re really bad at it, if we’re being totally honest. I can’t readily recall the last time I laughed hard enough to cry, but it definitely wasn’t today. I can’t remember the last time I partook in a nice game of catch or hide & seek or tag. I used to love playing freeze tag as a kid, what happened? When did I become so boring? When did I forget how to play? I don’t know, but maybe what’s so different and special about the holidays is that we give ourselves permission to be kids again, to laugh and play and have FUN.

Relating back to the brand, let’s put some holiday spirit into VW. Of course I won’t be the first person to do it, as a simple google search shows. This has obviously been thought of before, so how can I improve the concept? Well “made before” got me thinking about that VW ad from years and years ago  called Snow Plow that I saw while researching another post. It’s simple and a little irreverent and definitely funny in a quirky sort of way. So maybe I’ll do something like that too. Play up the german engineering that doesn’t let a little winter weather get in the way of your everyday motoring pleasure (hey, that rhymed). Just a few ideas off the top of my head:

• The Frosty or Jack Frost character getting run over by a VW (Comically, not morbidly)
• A family driving around while it’s snowing, looking at christmas lights (daw)
• A family driving somewhere for the holidays in the snow. The kids asleep in the backseat with a fireplace playing on the back seat video player (I just found out some VW cars have that) mom and dad smiling at each other up front listening to soft instrumental christmas music on the radio.

Because I like the last two a lot better, I’m going to force myself to use the first one because it’s absurd and weird and outside of my comfort zone. Here goes:

It’s…out there. It almost feels more like a public service announcement or warning than an advertisement. It’s certainly irreverent. This post was kind of a wild ride. I didn’t really know where I was going with it, but this definitely wasn’t where I expected it to end up. Oh well. It’s not play, but did it make you laugh?

I’m going to do a throwback for this one and make a list. I’ve been feeling less than awesome recently for a number of reasons, and I don’t like being melancholy so I’m going to make a list of things that make me happy.

• Peppermint tea (but really peppermint flavored anything).
• Big cuddly scarves.
• Good books (trumped only by sharing them and letting others enjoy them too).
• Getting a hug from my dad.
• Laughing about dumb things with my sister.
• Sitting by a warm fire on a cold night.
• Stargazing (especially when I can see the Milky Way).
• Noticing the little things (like a snoopy mural out of the bus window, or when someone trips and no one else is looking.)
• Making people I like laugh.
• Good food (making and eating it).
• Trying new things (like ice skating).
• Having intelligent conversations with cute boys.
• Finishing something I’m proud of (whether it’s art or a big project or just an assignment).
• Cute small animals (I’ve always wanted a pocket-sized pet).
• The beauty of changing seasons (I could write a whole nother list just on this one).
• The icy taste of cold morning air.
• When a tree has multicolored leaves, mottled green and red and orange fall colors.
• A sudden summer shower that cools everything off.
• Camping (see below).
• The sounds of nature waking up around you and the sizzle of bacon.
• Being able to see your breath in the morning.
• The smell of rain. And fresh-cut grass. And hazelnut coffee. And fire.
• The first magical moment when it starts to snow.
• Walking through fresh snow.
• The way that snow wraps the world in silence.
• Everything about snow, honestly.
• Christmas music.
• Finding the perfect gift for someone I love.
• Catching up with my family.
• The feeling after the end of a nice date.
• Exploring Richmond (and discovering its secret places).
• Late night conversations.
• Storms.
• Soft fuzzy blankets.
• When other people appreciate something I’ve done (my cooking, my art, a favor, whatever).
• People watching. It’s so fun and sort of soothing to watch others go about their daily lives.
• Small gestures. Just little reminders that someone cares. A note or letter, a nice comment, a smiley face sticker somewhere random.
• The sunrise at the beach.
• The warm, slightly tired glow after a good workout.
• The city from far away or high up.
• Listening to a great song for the first time.
• When your favorite song comes on.
• Holiday traditions.
• Getting to sleep in on a cold rainy day.
• The beach when it’s empty.
• Genuine compliments.
• Sinking into bed after a long day.
• Making people smile.
• Finding money.
• Riding my bike on a beautiful day.

Wow. So I started this list at like two in the morning and just saved it as a draft and coming back to add to it, plus reading through what I’d written, I just realize how much I have to be thankful for and enjoy every single day. I’m alive and just that is awesome. I shouldn’t let my recent funk get me down, I just need to remember to take the time to enjoy myself more. I know cheering others up always puts me in a good mood so maybe I can do that.

I want to be a dispenser of joy.

I apparently gave myself this idea commenting on another post (who knew giving feedback would be so helpful in my posts??). My idea was a way that VW could give encouragement: “an advertisement at a bus stop that dispenses smiles (in sticker form)”. I said that. That’s a great idea! So I just spent about thirty minutes making all the sticky notes I had on hand into smilyfaces as I listened to TED talks about ideation and I will say that was not time wasted. I now have tons of ideas for posts and I also have all these cute faces, now the only thing left to do is share them. So of course I went and put all of them on the wall by the elevators in my dorm with a note that says: “Take one. Don’t forget to smile.”

 

 It’s not quite a dispenser of stickers at a bus stop or whatever, but the general idea is the same. The actual dispenser would be a great example of innovative design (Free stuff at a bus stop is just great. Hmm, they should have an AIDS awareness ad that dispenses condoms…). Besides, free smilyfaces are such an easy way to brighten someone else’s day, and the slight absurdity of giving them away to random people (even if I’m not doing it in person) definitely adds a little surprise pleasure to your everyday.

I saw a couple of posts by other people in the class and had an Ah-ha! moment when I connected the two. One was for a phone personality who you could call when you had questions about VW and the other was for a superhero-celebrity-sponsor idea. Those ideas got me thinking about a VW superhero who could represent the brand and serve as the ‘face of Volkswagen’. The idea is a little bit sillier than what I’ve come to think Volkswagen is, but nonetheless it can still embody the aspects of the brand (and since the directive is “be absurd”, I’m just going to roll with it). “VW Man” (best I could come up with, sorry) could further everyday motoring pleasure by I don’t know, juggling cars during a traffic jam (make your commute a carnival ride!) or whatever. He could drive a “ManMobile” (obviously a tricked out VW) and a regular VW car as his alter ego. He could be a genetically engineered super-human (innovative design?) made in a top-secret VW lab (great opportunity for an origin story commercial or series of background info) and he could be classically good-looking (enduring whatever). I’m thinking tall, dark, and handsome. He sounds fun to draw so I’m going to spend the rest of my 45 minutes on a character design.

This was really fun actually. As I was doing this I was thinking about an origin story, something along the lines of …
Deep in the heart of Germany, under a factory that creates flawless VW cars, an elite group of scientists were creating a flawless human. Born on a cold November day in 1986, he grew up travelling and training. He travelled around the world visiting VW locations and training with some of the greatest masters (show the Dalai Lama etc), preparing for the day when he would become the hero the world needed. Some called him a super-human, some called him a freak, but he prefers another name: he goes by…VW Man. (flash to a relaxed handsome guy in a spandex body suit. He waves somewhat awkwardly and grins a lopsided easy grin “Hi there.”)

I was thinking it could be edited similar to a trailer for an ‘epic superhero movie’ to play up the incongruity of a really easy-going and approachable super hero. He’s just a normal guy, a good guy, not comically over-muscular or intimidating, not brooding or alien. He’s everyone’s super hero, just like VW can be everyone’s car.

Not my favorite idea, but I definitely got out of my comfort zone with this one. It’s sillier, almost goofy, like the “Wings” commercial VW did for the super bowl however long ago. It’s definitely absurd though, so Ta-Da!