Marketing Man

The following post was written for the FUSE Marketing Blog. You can view + comment on the original over here.

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First things first – you’ve got to give props to Volkswagen.

After last year’s crowd-pleasing “The Force” commercial from last year’s Superbowl – you know the one, where junior is dressed up as Darth Vader – the automaker has a vast audience of potential customers eagerly awaiting their next tour de force. So much, in fact, that the teaser video (sorry, just to remind you folks – we’re still talking about ads here) for this year’s VW Superbowl spot collected 8 million views (and counting) inside a week of being uploaded.

That’s really impressive. For comparison’s sake, I googled the first average Hollywood flick that came to my mind (I, Robot), and guess how many views its trailer had?

A measly. Shameful. Rotten. 750,000.

Advertising: 1. Will Smith: 0.

They hit a home run – qualifying a global audience by readying them for the next Superbowl commercial. Everything was going off smashingly. The succulent nectar of victory had never tasted so sweet. It was marketing at its finest.

Or so it would seem.

As it turns out, the video itself was only a small piece of a much bigger story. Near the end of the video, a little greyhound prances lightly into the shot wearing an AT-AT costume. For those of you with attractive partners, an “AT-AT” is one of those long-legged snow dwelling kill machines from Star Wars. It was friggin adoreable.

After watching, I did a quick Google search to confirm the dog’s breed. What I found was shocking – countless news results and recent write-ups about the star dog, himself. There was much more to this pup than the eye could see. Matter of fact, I would soon discover that his identity was shrouded in confusion and scandal.

The canine-meme-lovers of Internet Land were ecstatic to see who appeared to be Bones Mello, the “AT-AT Dog” (pictured above) make his much-deserved on-air debut. After all, Bones was a bit of an underground Facebook sensation. With nearly 8,000 FB fans and photos that bore and uncanny resemblance to the sleek hound featured in VW’s new teaser, it seemed as though Mr. Mellow had finally snatched the elusive kitty that is digital superstardom.

Wrong.

“That is not Bones in the VW Superbowl commercial.”

In a statement released by Bones’ owner & creator of his Fan Page, Katie Mello made it clear that the doppleganger doggy in the ad had no connection to her furry friend.

“We did not know anything about it until the day it aired. We have received no compensation from anyone. We are all very sad and disappointed about the whole thing. More than a little flattered, but still sad and disappointed. Thanks again to all of the Bones Mello supporters out there.”

“He loves each and every one of you unconditionally.”

I’m sure he does. Anyway – at this point, I didn’t know who to believe. Was it possible that VW borrowed the identity of this Hothian greyhound for the purposes of their commercial (here’s a side-by-side comparison)? Or was it merely a coincidence?

The story garnered enough media attention to warrant a response from a VW spokesperson when tech site Jalopnik inquired about the alleged incident. The rep insisted that there was no story to report on.

“There are all hosts of dogs, from every type of dog, and an AT-AT just happens to be an Italian Greyhound. [They're] all basically matched to the storyline,” explained Corey Proffit, the VW representative approached by Jalopnik.

“Essentially, the idea and the origination came from Lucas Films,” says Proffit, who explained that the team had worked directly with the creators of Star Wars to brew the concept.

But the controversy wouldn’t end there.

As it turns out, the Lucas Arts’ Official Star Wars Blog featured an article last October that spotlighted none other than – you guessed it – Bones. The Q&A with owner Katie Mello went into how and why she turned her pooch into an All Terrain Armored Transport. Lucas Arts thought it was fantastic.

Hmm. So where exactly did that idea come from, again?

So, there you have it brand managers: the recipe for viral success is simple. Just mix together a hit Superbowl Ad, licensing rights to the most popular movie franchise of all time, a meme-worthy internet controversy, and lots of cute puppies.

Could it be any simpler?