• Volkswagen es una de las marcas tradicionales dentro del mercado automotriz, con una gran historia tanto de errores como aciertos.

• Un gran acierto ha sido The Force, la campaña que Donny Deutsch Advertising Inc. creó para la alemana y que es protagonizada por un tierno niño disfrazado de Darth Vader.

• En cuanto a sus errores, el más polémico ha sido el mal llamado como Diesel Gate, uno de los escándalos más costosos y polémicos para una marca automotriz.

Una mala campaña publicitaria puede meter en problemas a la marca y Volkswagen ha descubierto lo necesario que es un brief sumamente claro y una colaboración cliente-agencia tan cercana, que no de paso a los errores.

En mayo pasado reportamos cómo Volkswagen tuvo la ocurrencia de usar arte de Ai Weiwei, lo que solo le sirvió para ganar una demanda por parte del artista.

La campaña se ejecutó en Dinamarca y una mala decisión creativa hizo que fotografiaran el nuevo modelo de la línea Polo, frente a la instalación del artista llamada Soleil Levant (2017).

El error consistió en que la instalación denunciaba el problema de refugiados que se vive en Europa, por lo que usarlo como fondo para la campaña de un auto, se convertía en una pésima ocurrencia.

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I am suing Volkswagen in Denmark for violating my intellectual property and moral rights. My artwork “Soleil Levant” (2017), which I created for World Refugee Day, was installed at Copenhagen's Kunsthal Charlottenborg from June 20 to October 1, 2017. The work comprises 3,500 lifejackets used by refugees who fled to Lesvos, Greece, escaping persecution and conflict. In October 2017 Volkswagen Denmark used an unauthorized photo of “Soleil Levant” in an ad for its VW Polo campaign. I was not credited as the artist, and my artwork image was uncredited and cropped without permission. The infringing material was circulated to over 200,000 people, giving the false impression that I had authorized Volkswagen to use my artwork in its ad for the new Polo. I was astonished by Volkswagen’s brazen violations of my intellectual property and moral rights. Since November 2017 I have been trying to resolve the matter with Volkswagen. In more than one year of fruitless negotiation, they only engaged in arrogant gestures to trivialize their guilt and dismiss the matter. Intellectual property protection lies at the heart of a society that values human invention and makes our useful accumulation of knowledge possible. Respect of intellectual property law is one cornerstone of a functioning international legal system. As one of the largest European companies, Volkswagen should understand these same laws. Volkswagen and other multinational corporations have tremendous bargaining power in intellectual property protection as well as environmental and human rights. They are not above the law. Human rights, like intellectual property, is a popular concept but one that is difficult to enforce. We should remember that Germany took in one million refugees in 2015, a powerful humanitarian act in a divided world. As one of Germany’s internationally most visible companies, Volkswagen’s disregard for fair play and humanitarian issues is truly disturbing.

Una publicación compartida por Ai Weiwei (@aiww) el 9 de Mar de 2019 a las 10:26 PST

La mala decisión llevó a Volkswagen a una querella, que finalmente le ha dado la razón al artista con una multa de un millón y medio de dólares contra la automotriz alemana.

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Judgment for the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei 17-07-2019 Scandinavian Motor Co. A / S must pay for unauthorized use of artwork in an advertisement Case number: BS-38220/2018 The case concerns Skandinavisk Motor Co. A / S 's use of Ai Weiwei's artwork "Soleil Levant" in an advertisement for a car. The artwork, which was exhibited at Kunsthal Charlottenborg's facade from June 20 to October 1, 2017, consisted of an installation of the art gallery's windows with 3,500 life jackets, collected from refugees who landed on Lesbos in 2015 and 2016. Ai Weiwei is a critic and artist, and his artwork in question focuses on the humanitarian refugee crisis SMC used the work as a background for a picture of a new car model. The picture was printed in a number by SMC's magazine "VieW". SMC acknowledged that by using the artwork they had violated Ai Weiwe's copyright, but disputed that his rights under the Marketing Act were also violated. Ai Weiwei had demanded 2 million DKK in remuneration, compensation and compensation for the violation. The Court held that SMC's use of the artwork constituted a violation of Section 3 (1) of the Marketing Act. 1, on good marketing practice. In particular, the Court emphasized that SMC's use of the image in a customer magazine and on Volkswagen's Danish website when launching a new car model was done for marketing purposes. This market exploitation of Ai Weiwei's artwork was in clear contradiction with the considerations and thoughts that were behind the work and the detailed content of the work. The exploitation caused a certain risk of diluting Ai Weiwei's artwork and had the character of a parasite on Ai Weiwei's good name and reputation. The use therefore constituted an improper exploitation of the artwork for marketing purposes. The court granted a remuneration for the unlawful application of 1.5 million. DKK and a compensation for non-financial damage of DKK 250,000. In determining the reasonable remuneration, the court emphasized in particular that SMC reproduced parts of the artwork in an advertisement for Volkswagen's Polo in the magazine in question, that the magazine was printed in 216,500 copies, of which 204,896 were

Una publicación compartida por Ai Weiwei (@aiww) el 17 de Jul de 2019 a las 6:02 PDT

Este tipo de errores nos recuerdan lo importante que es el contexto para una marca y lo necesario que es seguir pautas, que ayuden a que esas piezas se conviertan en resultado de un buen estudio del contexto, en que se llevan a cabo.

Dicho esto, es necesario trabajar bajo esquemas creativos mediante los cuales una marca logre colaborar de manera cercana a la agencia, para poder entender el contexto y evitar errores que a lo largo del día terminan siendo crisis de marca.