Arriba!

Volkswagen is calling for the help of Speedy Gonzales in attracting Hispanic customers for its new Golf GTI V commercials

Volkswagen rolled out three new GTI commercials this week starring the Looney Tunes superhero mouse, Speedy Gonzalez. The commercials are part of an ongoing effort by the German automaker to win the growing Hispanic market in North

CreativeOndemanD, Volkswagen’s Hispanic agency has created the commercials for the new Golf GTI which feature Warner Brothers’ Speedy Gonzales.

The 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.

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 knew the Hispanic consumer didn’t have a history, with the car”, said Daniel Marrero, partner and creative director for CreativeOndemanD, Coral Gables, Fla

“We had the challenge having to communicate that this was a smart, agile, fast car in the quickest way possible. 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”.

Volkswagen to Remove “abusive” billboards

Volkswagen said it will remove billboards in New York, Los Angeles and Miami after receiving complaints that a word used in an advertisement was offensive to Hispanics. The ad for the new GTI 2006 had a photo of the sports car accompanied by the words “Turbo-Cojones.” Cojones, which means… testicles in Spanish, has become a casually used term for boldness or guts in English but has never lost its more vulgar connotations in its native language.

Volkswagen, Golf, GTI, Speedy+Gonzales, Commercials, autos, auto+news, videos

VW GOLF GTI SPEEDY GONZALES – CATS

VW GOLF GTI SPEEDY GONZALES – REPLAY

VW GOLF GTI SPEEDY GONZALES – SPEEDBUMP