Volkswagen: Hello Confidence
Parallel parking, roundabouts, highway merges, and pedestrians can be a nightmare, so Volkswagen partnered with an iconic illustrator to make horror movie-style posters about them.
Driving can provoke a lot of anxiety and fear in people—and that’s not even considering flying cars, which could become a reality in the next decade.
But back here on the ground, 79% of Australians experience driving anxiety, according to recent research from Volkswagen. More than half of those surveyed—59%—fear parallel parking, because they’re embarrassed about holding up traffic or worried about hitting another car while trying to park.
Volkswagen Australia tackles some of these common driving fears in a new campaign promoting its Tiguan vehicle. Created by DDB Sydney, the outdoor ads take the style of horror movie posters to highlight everyday experiences on the road that can cause drivers to break out into a cold sweat: parallel parking, giant roundabouts, pedestrians and merging onto a four-lane highway.
Canadian movie poster artist Matt Ryan Tobin, who has worked with the likes of Disney, Marvel, 20th-Century Television and Warner Brothers, illustrated the ads.
An accompanying film pays homage to the psychological horror genre. After a driver navigates an eerie road complete with creepy crows and an ominous soundtrack, a voiceover assures viewers that while “the road can be a scary place,” they can “conquer their fears” behind the wheel of a Tiguan.
Revolver’s Bruce Hunt directed the spot and it was filmed on location in Oberon, New South Wales, Australia.
The ads are part of the brand’s “Life feels better in a Volkswagen” platform and will run across TV, online, out-of-home, radio and social media, with interactive AR set to launch later this year.
“The research highlighted what we knew to be true, albeit anecdotally, which is that these little road stresses can quickly creep up to become genuine anxieties and fears,” Volkswagen Australia marketing communications manager Rowena Kanna said in a statement.
“The new Volkswagen Tiguan helps conquer these fears thanks to I.Q. DRIVE, an intelligent driver assistance system with features such as Front Assist, Pedestrian Monitoring, and Lane Assist. We’re confident this exciting and unique campaign will cut through in a cluttered SUV market.”
