Xtremehkr
Jan 27, 2005, 04:49 PM
http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/26/pf/autos/vw_ad/vw_car_bomb.jpg
Link (http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/26/pf/autos/vw_ad/index.htm)
EW YORK (CNN/Money) - Volkswagen is planning to sue the makers of a controversial Internet short film showing a Middle Eastern-looking man using one of the company's cars in a suicide bombing attempt, according to a story on a British newspaper's Web site.
The makers of the film, a London based creative team known only as Lee and Dan, have said in various media reports that the ad was leaked accidentally and was never intended for public viewing. They have apologized for the film.
They have reportedly not said how the making of the film was financed.
The film, which looks like an advertisement for the car, shows a middle-eastern looking man getting into a Volkswagen Polo, a compact car the company sells in Europe. The man drives the car to a spot in front of a sidewalk cafe. He looks down and presses the button of what looks like a bomb detonator held in front of an explosive-filled vest.
At that point, filmed from a vantage point outside the car, an explosion goes off inside the passenger compartment and blood spatters across the car's windows. The car, however, remains intact. The film ends with the tag line "Polo: small but tough."
Volkswagen has insisted that it had no knowledge that the film was being made and that Volkswagen provided no financing for it.
Volkswagen has decided to take legal action against the filmmakers, according to a report posted today on the Web site for The Guardian.
"We are taking legal action but because it's early stages we cannot comment further," a Volkswagen spokesman was quoted as saying in the Guardian story.
The problem, now, is that Volkswagen needs to find Lee and Dan before it can sue them. So far, Volkswagen has been unable to locate them, the Guardian report says.
"We vehemently condemn that film and what it represents," said Tony Fouladpour, a spokesman for Volkswagen of America told CNN/Money.
Lee and Dan have not yet responded to an e-mail sent Wednesday morning by CNN/Money.
The pair have worked on advertising campaigns for various companies and products according to the partnership's Web site.
The film first appeared on the Internet around the middle of January.
The case is similar to a situation last year in which Ford distanced itself from an Internet film which appeared to be an advertisement for one of that company's European models. In that short Internet film, a cat climbed atop the car's roof and was decapitated by the car's sunroof. *
This makes more sense. I just couldn't imagine VW paying for an ad like that.
Link (http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/26/pf/autos/vw_ad/index.htm)
EW YORK (CNN/Money) - Volkswagen is planning to sue the makers of a controversial Internet short film showing a Middle Eastern-looking man using one of the company's cars in a suicide bombing attempt, according to a story on a British newspaper's Web site.
The makers of the film, a London based creative team known only as Lee and Dan, have said in various media reports that the ad was leaked accidentally and was never intended for public viewing. They have apologized for the film.
They have reportedly not said how the making of the film was financed.
The film, which looks like an advertisement for the car, shows a middle-eastern looking man getting into a Volkswagen Polo, a compact car the company sells in Europe. The man drives the car to a spot in front of a sidewalk cafe. He looks down and presses the button of what looks like a bomb detonator held in front of an explosive-filled vest.
At that point, filmed from a vantage point outside the car, an explosion goes off inside the passenger compartment and blood spatters across the car's windows. The car, however, remains intact. The film ends with the tag line "Polo: small but tough."
Volkswagen has insisted that it had no knowledge that the film was being made and that Volkswagen provided no financing for it.
Volkswagen has decided to take legal action against the filmmakers, according to a report posted today on the Web site for The Guardian.
"We are taking legal action but because it's early stages we cannot comment further," a Volkswagen spokesman was quoted as saying in the Guardian story.
The problem, now, is that Volkswagen needs to find Lee and Dan before it can sue them. So far, Volkswagen has been unable to locate them, the Guardian report says.
"We vehemently condemn that film and what it represents," said Tony Fouladpour, a spokesman for Volkswagen of America told CNN/Money.
Lee and Dan have not yet responded to an e-mail sent Wednesday morning by CNN/Money.
The pair have worked on advertising campaigns for various companies and products according to the partnership's Web site.
The film first appeared on the Internet around the middle of January.
The case is similar to a situation last year in which Ford distanced itself from an Internet film which appeared to be an advertisement for one of that company's European models. In that short Internet film, a cat climbed atop the car's roof and was decapitated by the car's sunroof. *
This makes more sense. I just couldn't imagine VW paying for an ad like that.
