When thinking of epic ad campaigns, for some reason my mind automatically wanders to the epic split video that Volvo produced with the incredibly bendy Jean Claude Van Damme in 2013. In this video, Van Damme manages to stand/ literally split himself between two Volvo trucks, while driving in reverse and while slowly drifting apart. It's set to some very dramatic music during a beautiful sunset in the middle of nowhere, and the whole ad has a very tranquil, harmonious feel. Which actually, makes it quite comical. I can't watch the ad without laughing because of how serious it tries to be. As odd as it seems, the video has over 80 million views on YouTube and is still talked about to this day. I've seen clips on Vine, and there are tons of people that have tried recreating Van Damme's epic split. The point of the ad was to show off the stability of the power steering on the Volvo trucks, but Van Damme's crazy flexibility is what made it so memorable. I'm not so sure this ad campaign actually worked for Volvo, because there aren't really any Volvo-specific factors in this ad (besides the dialogue and text at the end). I think the public is probably more likely to just remember Van Damme, and won't necessarily associate it with Volvo. But nonetheless, Volvo got a lot of views and publicity for this ad, so in that sense it definitely worked. Maybe if they made more commercials with a variety of epic, gravity defying acts, the public would be more likely to tie it to Volvo. But overall, it was very memorable and it peeked a lot of public interest, so that seems pretty successful to me. Check out the ad below!
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Bailee KussrowI have many thoughts. I have many passions. Archives
June 2017
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