Volvo Urging People Not To Watch the Super Bowl

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Volvo is taking a very unique approach to its advertising for the Super Bowl this year. Rather than simply have the network air its commercials during the breaks, it has decided to compete with the game directly for viewership.

Called “The Longest Drive,” the automaker’s smartphone game is reminiscent of dealer and radio contests where people have to keep their hands on the car to win it. The difference here is that Volvo is concerned with your eyes. Participants will compete to log the most amount of time looking at stock footage of the Volvo S60 in the hopes of claiming one as a prize.

Mercedes-Benz tried something similar last year with its digitized “Last Fan Standing” competition. In that contest, people were asked to keep their finger on a Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe as the company monitored their cell phone, waiting for them to make a mistake. Unfortunately, mistakes were made long before the contest began.

Prior to kickoff, technical difficulties caused a delay. Mercedes never managed to sort out the problem and ended up turning the game into a random drawing to appease disgruntled contestants.

Volvo’s contest is similar in concept, but not execution. Rather than keeping your digit pressed into the phone as you pray for the other players to magically fall asleep, Volvo wants you to keep your eyes on the screen while it runs b-roll of the S60 sedan. Presumably, one can still blink, but take your eyes off the screen for a second and you’ll be kicking yourself for every microsecond lost to another player.

Framed as a virtual test drive, the game uses facial recognition technology to lock onto a person’s face and detect when the person’s eyes are no longer directed at the screen. In marketing materials provided by the automaker, the actor hired to portray the contestant has a huge smile on their face, but this actually seems torturous. Volvo is basically asking you to voluntarily participate in the advertising equivalent of the “aversion therapy” featured in A Clockwork Orange.

The three people to hold out the longest will be crowned the victors. However, there’s a not-so-minor catch. Participants aren’t really competing for the S60. Instead, they’re fighting for the opportunity to receive a two-year subscription to Care by Volvo, which includes access to a new S60 Momentum and routine maintenance and insurance, but requires you to give the car back after 24 months.

“Volvo first made waves on football’s biggest night in 2015 with our interception campaign, asking people to nominate who should get a new Volvo on Twitter whenever a car commercial played,” said Bob Jacobs, VP of Marketing, Brand and Communications, Volvo Car USA. “This campaign is an iteration on that. The Volvo S60 symbolizes the belief that you should follow no one and focus on what you think is best. At Volvo, we feel that this approach is better than just running a television commercial, it brings more excitement and engagement to our fans.”

Terms and conditions apply, of course. Volvo says you must be at least 18 and possess a valid driver’s license to be eligible to claim the prize. But you also might want to hit up S60LongestDrive.com to see if your phone has the necessary equipment with which to play. Considering everything the contest entails, would you really want to?

[Images: Volvo Cars]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

More by Matt Posky

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 22 comments
  • Tele Vision Tele Vision on Jan 30, 2019

    What's second prize? Two Volvos?

  • IBx1 IBx1 on Jan 31, 2019

    I won't be watching anyway; all the commercials have gone to crap and nothing is fun anymore with all the SJWs waiting to be offended.

  • Oberkanone My grid hurts!Good luck with installing charger locations at leased locations with aging infrastructure. Perhaps USPS would have better start modernizing it's Post offices to meet future needs. Of course, USPS has no money for anything.
  • Dukeisduke If it's going to be a turbo 4-cylinder like the new Tacoma, I'll pass.BTW, I see lots of Tacomas on the road (mine is a 2013), but I haven't seen any 4th-gen trucks yet.
  • Oberkanone Expect 4Runner to combine best aspects of new Land Cruiser and new Tacoma and this is what I expect from 2025 4Runner.Toyota is REALLY on it's best game recently. Tacoma and Land Cruiser are examples of this.
  • ArialATOMV8 All I hope is that the 4Runner stays rugged and reliable.
  • Arthur Dailey Good. Whatever upsets the Chinese government is fine with me. And yes they are probably monitoring this thread/site.
Next