Creative Crush: The Fun Theory

March 8th, 2011 by Ashley Walsh

Whether Volkswagen is making fun of hipsters or leveraging the force of a pop culture phenomenon, their creative ad efforts always put a grin on my face. The 2010 Fun Theory Campaign by Volkswagen gave me a full tooth smile, and put me in an ad-induced happy place.

The objective of the campaign, created by DDB Stockholm, was to generate interest in Volkswagen’s new Blue Motion technologies that reduces the environmental impact of their vehicles.

Utilizing the insight that “fun” is the easiest way to change peoples’ behavior for the better – the insight VW says went into creating their new more environmentally friendly engine technology –  DDB created a series of real life experiments to find out if making the world more fun can improve behavior.

The experiments were filmed in Stockholm and released on YouTube, and soon received coveted “viral video” status. The most popular being the Piano Stairs experiment where DDB turned a commuter staircase into a piano and successfully caused more people to choose the stairs over the escalator.

DDB also challenged the global public to get involved and propose their own Fun Theory experiments. The winning “Speed Camera Lottery” proposed experiment was tested in Stockholm. Video of the experiment has received over 450,000 views and proves more citizens obey the speed limit when entered into a lottery.

VW’s Fun Theory has received international acclaim and exposure, most notably receiving the 2010 Cannes Cyber Grand Prix for digitally led integrated campaign. Perhaps most impressive, the Fun Theory proved “fun” online videos can drive car sales! Volkswagen now has the highest selling eco car in Sweden, the primary market for the campaign.

The Creative Crush Series revisits some of the most innovative social media campaigns that have inspired us at Matchstick creatively.