Swedish town all buys volvos on the same day...coincidence?

March 7, 2004 4:05 PM

Swedish town all buys volvos on the same day...coincidence?

This car was bought by the same town on the same day. Watch the cool (but large) flash video documentary. Or download it here: Quicktime or Windows Media.

Is it collective unconscious? Yeah, I know, I'm buying into the merchandising wagon. But it's an interesting documentary -- if it's true.
posted by filmgeek (23 comments total)

Coincidences are support to happen x amount of times statistically speaking. To point one out and say "holy crap" is to miss the big picture or miss a more obvious/realistic explanation.
posted by skallas at 4:19 PM on March 7, 2004

It's not true. Volvo has admitted it's not true. There was some nonsense about "engaging the viewer on a different level" but bollocks is bollocks, and it's bollocks.
posted by Hogshead at 4:25 PM on March 7, 2004

Ford is ruining Volvo. I own an 82 242 DL and I love it. I don't think I'd buy Ford's new Volvo cars though. I'll stick to the real deal.
posted by crazy finger at 4:26 PM on March 7, 2004

Dude, it's a freakin' advert! It shows up on UK screens at least two or three times a night, and it has for some time ...
posted by kaemaril at 5:04 PM on March 7, 2004

Right now, P.T. Barnum is laughing at you from Huckster Heaven.™
posted by dakotadusk at 5:21 PM on March 7, 2004

''The Mystery of Dalaro'' - Volvo Documentary - Fiction!

The cleverest advertising campaign ever?
posted by SpaceBass at 5:48 PM on March 7, 2004

What they failed to mention in the documentary is that all the buyers were later found chained to Coffin Rock with "grotesque and disturbing symbols" carved into their bodies.

Coincidence? Advertising? Or has Something entered our world from Outside?
posted by SPrintF at 5:48 PM on March 7, 2004

VolvoFilter
posted by pmurray63 at 8:08 PM on March 7, 2004

Paging widdershins ...

As a 50% Swede, I have to admit the only reason I found this extended joke bearable was gawking at the Swedish town. And the Swedish babes.

(Now, if this had been presented complete with the "Carlos Soto" meta-controversy, it might have lasted a bit longer. As it is, it's an excellent example of why the word meme is so short.)
posted by dhartung at 9:02 PM on March 7, 2004

Speaking of ford subsidiaries, the new GT rocks hardcore.


posted by delmoi at 11:27 PM on March 7, 2004

I was asked to accept a cookie from http://www.fordvehicles.com when this thread loaded.

That sucks pretty severely, if it was intentional.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:34 AM on March 8, 2004

yup, i got a cookie too.
posted by quarsan at 1:01 AM on March 8, 2004

Don't the ads have huge "This is an advertisement" plastered all over it like they do here in the UK?

Or maybe it just seems huge because I keep seeing the damn ad in the movie theater...
posted by Katemonkey at 1:57 AM on March 8, 2004

Yay! A friend and ex-colleague is in the ad. He's one of the 0.000001% of people that work in Stockholm, but live more than 25 minutes commute away (in that particular town, out in the archipelago). They randomly knocked on his door (and those of other residents) and offered them money to be in the ad I am told. No Volvo purchase necessary.
posted by bifter at 2:08 AM on March 8, 2004

Christ. Ford own Volvo now? When did this happen?

I so wanted one, too :(
posted by bwerdmuller at 3:01 AM on March 8, 2004

You can still get a Volvo Truck. Ford don't own them, confusingly...
posted by bifter at 3:04 AM on March 8, 2004

I'll join in the "nope, it's not true". Actually it' a Spike Jonze film, and Carlos Soto does not exist. See a spoof within a spoof [self link], they admitted it the day they launched the campaign (13th of feb)
posted by dabitch at 4:17 AM on March 8, 2004

anyone with a little knowledge of Sweden would know the ad isn't "real" as they talk about the trouble with Reindeers on the road. You won't see a group of Reindeers as far down south as Stockholm (and Dalarö) is. It made me laugh out loud.
posted by dabitch at 4:23 AM on March 8, 2004

You got asked for a cookie from fordvehicles.com because delmoi included a graphic from their website.
posted by Kip at 4:24 AM on March 8, 2004

You got asked for a cookie from fordvehicles.com because delmoi included a graphic from their website.

No shit, my friend sherlock. What I was objecting to was that I got one while reading Metafilter.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:56 AM on March 8, 2004

i thought it was terrible, and then i saw it was Spike Jonze. then i thought it was terrible and terribly depressing. even worse than those BMW "movies."
posted by mrgrimm at 9:54 AM on March 8, 2004

the spike-thing, was your reaction "it's a little bit like using a sledgehammer to nail in a tack"? That was mine anyway, it surprised me that he had done it.
posted by dabitch at 10:43 AM on March 8, 2004

And just look at that. The Google Ads at the side confirm the marketing ploy's genius. We're just a short click away from a new Volvo... ;-)
posted by wibbler at 3:51 PM on March 18, 2004