VW denies responsibility for “Suicide Bomber” ad
A few days ago Johnsee posted a link to an interesting and quite controversial VW Polo car ad.
It depicted a man of clear Middle-Eastern origin getting into a VW Polo (a smaller version of the VW Golf), driving to a outdoor cafe and pulling up outside it. A bomb belt strapped to him is revealed as he pushes the detonator. The bomb goes off, but the explosion is contained within the car - earning the tagline: “Polo. Small but tough.”
It was recently brought to my attention by Phil that Volkswagen never commissioned this ad, and that it was simply a “spec” ad or speculative ad for the advertising company that created it as a demonstration of its abilities.
It now turns out that Volkswagen is planning legal action against the creators of the Suicide Bomber Volkswagen Polo viral ad. While it’s not clear in the New York Post article, the likely recipients of Volkswagen’s legal weight will be creative shop Lee and Dan who have admitted to creating the ad. A spokesperson for the company in question claims, “The ad got out accidentally and has spread like wildfire. It wasn’t meant for public consumption.”
Planned or unplanned, VW is getting some precious free publicity from it.
