Volkswagen & Speedy Gonzales

CreativeOndemanD, Volkswagen's Hispanic agency has created three commercial for the new GTI Mk V which feature Warner Brothers' Speedy Gonzales. The three spots feature the speedy dude in three different scenarios blending original footage with animation.

The 3 spots are airing on Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura, Azteca America, Galavision, Mun2, Fox Sports en Espanol, American Latino, SiTV, ESPN Deportes, CNN en Espanol, GolTV, and MTV en Espanol. The campaign also includes outdoor in Miami, Los Angeles and New York.

Starting in March of 2006, Volkswagen will roll out three new commercials aimed at Hispanic car-buyers, the company announced.

The beloved cartoon character Speedy Gonzales will star alongside the GTI Mk V model. The spots will show on over a dozen Spanish-language channels nationwide.

The commercials mark an ongoing effort by Volkswagen, Auburn Hills, Mich., to reach Hispanic consumers, this time about its mid-range hatchback.

"We knew the Hispanic consumer didn't have a history," with the car, said Daniel Marrero, partner and creative director for CreativeOndemanD, Coral Gables, Fla., agency of record for Volkswagen's Hispanic accounts.

"We had the challenge having to communicate that this was a smart, agile, fast car in the quickest way possible," Marrero told Brandweek today.

Speedy Gonzales was a good fit for the campaign because, in part, "he's kind of an icon for Hispanics," Marrero said. "He's always outwitting his enemies."

The three commercials use vintage Warner Bros. footage and will show Speedy in a series of adventures: he taunts cats and helps his friends get cheese. True to his cartoon background, he even gets run over by a GTI.

"We are using him in an unusual and irreverent way," Marrero said.

Financials were not disclosed. C.O.D. has worked with Volkswagen for four years on multiple campaigns, Marrero said. The auto giant spent $10 million on Hispanic media in 2005, per TNS Media Intelligence.

(source: Jenny Holland, Brandweek)

Volkswagen campaign objections.
After Volkswagen received objections to the tagline "Turbo-Cojones" used in its controversial new ad campaign dubbed Speedy Gonzales targeting Hispanic consumers, the automaker is pulling its billboards from Miami, New York and Los Angeles, writes Autoblog.

Though English speakers associate a lighthearted translation of "guts" to the word "cojones" - which means testicles in Spanish - Hispanics in Miami, who use a more graphic meaning of the word, took offense to the billboards for the 2006 GTI, the Associated Press writes, via Chron.com.

The two new ads below will replace the billboards.