Volvo Ads Pretend To Show Hate for Car

Press for EuroRSCG Fuel of London's new advertising campaign "Product of Free Will" for the Volvo C30 is being touted as "breaking a long-held advertising taboo" because it shows consumers disrespecting the Volvo brand. If you go to the Volvo C30 microsite, you can view spots which "disrespect" the car by claiming "It's too exciting for my mom", "If it was up to me, I'd drop it in the sea", and an audience throwing tomatoes at the car in a theater.
Oooh that's sooo disrespectful. Please. If you want to really let consumers speak their mind about the car, that's one thing. But to claim that they are showing people hating on the car is bogus.

The effort, begun in the United Kingdom last year and coming to the United States later this year, solicits people's opinions about the entry level premium hatchback and is themed "product of free will." The Web site, found at www.volvocars.com/freewill, offers, among other things, 16 short films that will also air on TV, said Tim Ellis, global advertising director of the Ford Motor Co. brand.

Each film represents someone's take on the car's looks, and while most are positive, several go the other way. Visitors are asked to rate the films, most of which end with a narrator saying, "That's one opinion. What's yours?" A 10-second positive film will run in the same commercial pod as a 10-second negative one.