No doubt that during the two week span of Winter Olympic coverage you will have seen a small black Gremlin-like creature with a menacing evil grin and a movie bad guy voice gracing your television screen. Say hello to “Fast”, VW’s newest personality in the American auto landscape.
The campaign springs from Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the same shop that brought us the new Burger King spots. While he may look the part of a tiny villain, the real purpose of Fast is to take a humorous yet quasi-realistic stab at a the “truth in advertising” motif. VW’s previous “Drivers Wanted” campaign still rings true as the underlying theme, but merely as a more serene back-story to the more in-your-face “Fast”. With a decidedly young male audience in mind and a tagline to “Make friends with your Fast”, Fast acts as a car driver’s alter-ego instilling performance-laden thoughts into more pedestrian situations. And you can throw propriety and etiquette right out of the the proverbial window. In one ad, while being heavily influenced by his Fast, one driver tells his girlfriend “Sweetie, it’s really hard for me to enjoy the sound of the engine with all that yakking.”, to which Fast chimes in proudly “Sometimes my Fast doesn’t get along with my girlfriend.” Now, I ask you guys out there, sad but true… how many of us have thought that very thing when we get a bit of side-car driving advice?
As an added treat, for GTI fans out there, you may notice that Fast is actually a black bunny with sharp features and a thin red grin on his grill. I can only guess that this is a tribute to the GTI’s origins as a VW Rabbit and the original colorway of black and red. Subtle and pointed squarely at VW loyalists, this also highlights what is being touted as “unpimping” your ride or “Ünpimp Mein Auto” and returning to the clean lines and simplicity of design that are hallmarks of German auto-crafting.
Are you friends with your Fast?
Publisher’s Note: This is a guest post, meant to add to the previously discussed “Crispin Puts On Lederhosen For VW” post, which currently has an interesting comment thread going on.
