DailyDirt: Ads Are Content... And Should Be Shareable

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Everyone complains about intrusive and annoying ads. If ads were entertaining and enjoyable, people would actually want to watch them. This shouldn't be surprising to anyone reading Techdirt on a regular basis. Somehow, though, it's much easier to find ads that are annoying than enjoyable. Here are just a few examples of viral ads that prove that commercials don't have to be irritating or pushy to convey their marketing message.

• Jean-Claude Van Damme has performed his most epic splits ever for a Volvo ad. But before that, JCVD had a lot of practice doing the splits on film. [url]
• Goldieblox mashes up a Rube Goldberg machine with a Beastie Boys cover to promote its girl-targeted toy that is supposed to expand girls' toys beyond just dolls and pink accessories. If there's a formula for a viral ad, it probably should contain some catchy music or a Rube Goldberg contraption. [url]
• One of the most viral online ad campaigns of all time has to be Blendtec's series of 'Will it blend?' videos. Will an iPad blend? Yes, but first they had to cheat a little and bend the iPad in half to make it fit into the blender. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: ads, beastie boys, commercials, girls, jean-claude van damme, marketing, media, rube goldberg, splits, viral videos
Companies: blendtec, goldieblox, volvo

The Car That's Driven 2.8 Million Miles

from the feeling-like-a-slacker-yet? dept

These days, any time you hear of a car that's been driven over 200,000 miles, it's pretty impressive. But, apparently for a guy named Irv Gordon, that was just what it took to break in his 1966 Volvo P1800. Shocklee points us to the astounding story of Gordon and the 2.8 million miles he's put on the beloved car, which he bought new all the way back in 1966. He's hoping to get it up to 3 million in about 3 years. For anyone who believe "they don't make 'em, like they used to," apparently here's a datapoint. The guy drives 125-mile commute daily, but also apparently just loves driving and takes the car all over the place.

As for repairs and maintenance, obviously he takes pretty good care of the car, but doesn't seem to do anything special, beyond following the factory (not dealer) manual. He began to realize the car was pretty damn reliable when he surpassed 250,000 miles without needing a single repair beyond basic maintenance. And, yes, the engine has been rebuilt twice, but he admits that the first time it shouldn't have been. Volvo, of course, is well aware of Gordon and even gave him a free car years back when he hit 1 million miles. But he saw no reason to stop driving the original one. And, if you're wondering, yes, Gordon is in the Guinness Book of World Records. But he got there way back in 1998 when he only had 1.69 million miles on the car. Suddenly, "just" having 200,000 miles on a car doesn't seem so special.

Filed Under: 2.8 million miles, cars, p1800
Companies: volvo

Volvo Says It Will Have An Injury Proof Car By 2020

from the accident-avoidance dept

You've probably heard the old adage, "if you make something idiot-proof, they'll make a better idiot." Well, it appears that Volvo wants to put that theory to the test. Just as Larry Page is complaining that not enough people are working on accident-proof cars, Volvo has announced that it will offer an injury proof vehicle by 2020. There's been a ton of work done over the past few years on accident avoidance and safety within vehicles, but the 2020 deadline is quite aggressive. Other automakers are working on similar systems, and it's good to see good old fashioned competition driving car companies towards making consumers much safer. Quite a change from the Unsafe at Any Speed days.

Filed Under: automobile, injury proof
Companies: volvo