Road Rage a Problem? VW to the Rescue with Road Joy!
Jetta Photos
You’ve heard of road rage, and may have even experienced it, but what about “Blatant Acts of Road Joy”?
On today’s clogged highways and congested inner city streets, filled with impatient motorists attempting to stuff more work hours into their ever-busy, activity-filled lives, it’s no wonder some people lose it when an inattentive cellphone dialing, Blackberry emailing or radio station changing driver cuts them off. This is why VW Canada’s new marketing campaign, Fun To Drive, might not only be effective at selling its newest City cars, but also have a positive affect on motoring society.
Truly, anger behind the wheel is a problem in most of Canada’s metropolitan areas, just like it is across the U.S., with some reacting to poor driving habits and others just ready to explode because of personal pressures pushing them beyond the brink. According to a study conducted by the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry in 2003, 40-percent of Canadian men and 27-percent of Canadian women admitted to perpetrating aggressive behaviour while at the wheel of a car, such as “yelling, gesturing, threatening to hurt someone, attempting to damage another driver’s car or hurt him or her”. What’s more, 48-percent of respondents reported to have been “at the receiving end of someone else’s anger on the road”. And it’s only gotten worse during the last four years, plus it’s worse yet here in the States.
Volkswagen’s new initiative, Road Joy, invites Canadians to be “agents of change on the road by driving friendly”, promoting a positive spin on the road rage trend. The first step in the program is to purchase one of VW’s recently updated Canadian-exclusive entry-level models, the 2008 City Golf or City Jetta. But before a new customer is even allowed to buy the car they must agree to “stem the tide of road rage” by visiting www.vw.ca after taking the new car home, and then logging onto its Road Joy registry, where they’ll be able to choose a mission of kindness to be carried out with the new car.
The price of entry is steep, unless you factor in you’re getting an extremely well-made European car with materials quality, fit, finish and features that are class-leading, all for only $15,300 in hatchback form or $16,700 as a sedan (if you think that price is high for an entry-level car keep in mind that Canadians regularly pay from 20- to 30-percent more for the same cars available in the U.S.). That’s paying the price of a Korean or Japanese subcompact model and receiving a compact-sized hatch or sedan with such standard features as four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and EBD, a height adjustable and telescopic steering wheel, a high-grade woven roofliner and cloth covered pillars, high quality soft-touch plastics throughout the interior, integrated turn signals in the exterior side mirrors, a CD/MP3/WMA compatible audio system with an aux plug and USB hookup, plus an optional six-speed automatic transmission with manual mode … the only six-speed auto in the class. Add to that German engineering and the solid, planted feel Volkswagens are known for and the price for signing up to commit Road Joy sounds much more reasonable.
Some “random acts of Road Joy” include taking a neighbour’s dog for a joyride, donating a parking spot that you arrived at first, air kiss launching, waving to kids in school buses, and feeding the expired meter for someone you don’t know.”
“The ‘Fun To Drive’ campaign presents a natural opportunity to turn a negative into a positive by leveraging the essence of what makes every Volkswagen, a Volkswagen,” commented Bruce Rosen, Volkswagen Canada’s General Manager, Marketing Communications. “Road Joy aims to engage Canadian drivers as positive agents of change to return civility to the roads.”
If you live in Detroit or somewhere near the Canadian border you’ll be able to see Road Joy being promoted on your TV screen, while Canadians will also be exposed to print ads as well as interactive and in-market mediums, and they shouldn’t be surprised if the goodwill generated spills over to drivers of other cars, not just Volkswagen’s base models, and potentially spill over northern borders.
The first TV spot is dubbed “Gridlock Bubble Brigade,” and features the song Your Heart Is an Empty Room by Bellingham, Washington band Death Cab for Cutie. Other TV ads include “Guerilla Carwash” and “Spot Donation”. Print ads will call consumers to action via a list of Road Joys during the week of October 22nd.
Just for fun you should check out www.vwroadjoy.ca to choose from more than 150 acts of Road Joy, follow a community’s progress via the Road Joy mission counter, live updates and continuous text and video feeds.
At the time of writing, hundreds of City Golf and Jetta owners had signed up for numerous activities including some that have even completed their tasks: 1 for the gridlock bubble brigade, 1 that waved when someone cut them off, 1 person who ran their cart back to the grocery store door to save a car door, and 1 who scrubbed someone else’s gas station windshield clean.
Not necessarily the critical mass needed to stem the negative tide, but certainly a positive force in the right direction. Volkswagen of America might want to consider something similar for its Rabbit or upcoming Tiguan. Why not? After all, a little goodwill can go a long way to selling more cars while making the streets safer and life a little more fun.
Recently Added To Our Network
| 1995 Volkswagen Jetta Celebration | San Jose, CA | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 1996 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Columbia, CT | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 1997 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Chicago, IL | Price: $2,900 | |
| 1997 Volkswagen Jetta Trek | San Jose, CA | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 1997 Volkswagen Jetta Trek | San Jose, CA | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 1997 Volkswagen Jetta GT | Everett, WA | Price: $5,999 | |
| 1998 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Price: $3,992 | |
| 1999 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDi | Waterloo, NY | Price: $8,999 | |
| 1999 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Easton, PA | Price: $3,995 | |
| 1999 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Bayside, NY | Price: $5,995 | |
| 1999 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Racine, WI | Price: $5,995 | |
| 1999 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Glenview, IL | Price: $6,988 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Las Vegas, NV | Price: $4,991 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS VR6 | Dublin, CA | Price: $10,991 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS VR6 | Chesapeake, VA | Price: $9,995 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Fredericksburg, VA | Price: $6,375 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Schaumburg, IL | Price: $3,995 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Easton, PA | Price: $6,995 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Spokane, WA | Price: $6,995 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Framingham, MA | Price: $6,991 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS VR6 | Houston, TX | Price: $5,881 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Somerset, MA | Price: $7,995 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Langhorne, PA | Price: $6,950 | |
| 2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS VR6 | Renton, WA | Price: $7,988 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Tucson, AZ | Price: $10,995 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Salt Lake City, UT | Price: $51,111 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Dublin, CA | Price: $7,991 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Overland Park, KS | Price: $99,999 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Florence, KY | Price: $6,995 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Portland, OR | Price: $5,977 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Gap, PA | Price: $8,900 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Ontario, OR | Price: $7,314 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS Wolfsburg Edition 1.8T | Maumee, OH | Price: $7,982 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Dublin, CA | Price: $8,500 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Las Vegas, NV | Price: $7,994 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Littleton, CO | Price: $6,902 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Indianapolis, IN | Price: $8,995 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Fairfield, CT | Price: $6,295 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Franklin, TN | Price: $7,999 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Bedford, MA | Price: $9,999 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Lakewood, NJ | Price: $7,988 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Alexandria, VA | Price: $8,106 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Fairfax, VA | Price: $7,960 | |
| 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDi | Greensboro, NC | Price: $9,998 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Saint Paul, MN | Price: $5,955 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Littleton, CO | Price: $8,994 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Littleton, CO | Price: $6,994 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Augusta, GA | Price: $12,290 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Vienna, VA | Price: $8,997 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Richardson, TX | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Lincolnwood, IL | Price: $8,995 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Seattle, WA | Price: $7,882 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Chesapeake, VA | Price: $4,995 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Denver, CO | Price: $8,492 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | East Dubuque, IL | Price: $8,952 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | East Dubuque, IL | Price: $9,212 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI | Jacksonville, FL | Price: $9,995 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Olympia, WA | Price: $10,990 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI | Avondale, AZ | Price: $11,988 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Westminster, MD | Price: $7,995 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI | Westminster, MD | Price: $9,995 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Lynnwood, WA | Price: $8,988 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | North Olmsted, OH | Price: $8,495 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Raleigh, NC | Price: $8,995 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Iowa City, IA | Price: $7,850 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Bedford, OH | Price: $8,995 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Bedford, MA | Price: $10,990 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Beaverton, OR | Price: $7,988 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Summit, NJ | Price: $8,599 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Carrollton, TX | Price: $7,950 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Mckinney, TX | Price: $8,994 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Portland, OR | Price: $12,988 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Lynbrook, NY | Price: $9,258 | |
| 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Yorktown Heights, NY | Price: $10,996 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Las Vegas, NV | Price: $9,991 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI VR6 | Hollywood, FL | Price: $9,992 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Montgomery, AL | Price: $7,990 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition | Arlington, VA | Price: $8,991 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Frisco, TX | Price: $8,988 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GL TDI | Bloomfield Hills, MI | Price: $8,589 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI VR6 | Beaverton, OR | Price: $14,488 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Manchester, NH | Price: $6,998 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Auburn, WA | Price: $13,777 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 | Irvine, CA | Price: $10,582 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Vienna, VA | Price: $8,994 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Janesville, WI | Price: $7,999 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Franklin, WI | Price: $7,827 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Thousand Oaks, CA | Price: $7,999 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Abington, MA | Price: $8,131 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Waterloo, NY | Price: $7,903 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Portland, OR | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T | Ontario, OR | Price: $7,816 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GL | Painesville, OH | Price: $6,990 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Columbia, MD | Price: $8,214 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | San Antonio, TX | Price: $8,497 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition | Mcminnville, OR | Price: $8,995 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS | Mcminnville, OR | Price: $8,995 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GL TDI | Mcminnville, OR | Price: $13,995 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI VR6 | Arlington Heights, IL | Price: $8,957 | |
| 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI VR6 | Cerritos, CA | Price: $13,591 |