Campaign Overview (Judges, please start here)
LAUNCHING THE CHEVY SONIC - A CAR FOR FIRSTS
Chevrolet is synonymous with tradition and gas guzzling pickup trucks—a problem among first-time car buyers who want cool fuel-efficient city cars. To change their perception of Chevy, we demonstrated that the Chevy Sonic is their personal launch pod to discovery through epic 100% real “Sonic First” stunts.
THE FIRST CAR LAUNCHED BY THE INTERNET. LITERALLY.
Nobody cares about yet another car launch, except when you get to do it yourself. We asked the Internet to launch the Chevy Sonic by pushing it off a 100 ft. platform, and people went click crazy: 2.5 million clicks and nine hours later, the Sonic went bungee jumping over the edge—all live streamed on our blog.
LetsDoThis.com/bungeeSONIC’S FIRST SKYDIVE: FROM 0 - 60 IN 0.4 SEC
To create a series of awe-inspiring original Sonic firsts, we partnered with extreme sports stars, robotics experts and tech masterminds. We started by showing off the Sonic from all angles while the car was free-falling from 14,000 ft.
LetsDoThis.com/skydiveSKYDIVE WITH THE SONIC
SONIC’S FIRST NEW YEAR
All Sonic firsts generated content for both digital advertising and online films. On New Year’s Eve, Sonic took over Times Square, reminding people to get in some firsts in the coming year.
SONIC’S FIRST YOUTUBE MASTHEAD: CHANGE ANGLES ON THE FLY
This masthead let people free-fall with the Sonic, changing camera angles on the fly, seeing the car drop from the point of view of five skydivers.
DO NOT CLICK THIS BANNER
In an online first, this banner specifically asked people not to click it, a request that, of course, got a lot of people to click it. Reverse psychology—go figure.
SONIC’S FIRST KICKFLIP (AND TV SHOW)
Sonic partnered with Rob Dyrdek, pro skateboarder and star of the MTV show Fantasy Factory, to pull off its first kickflip. The stunt kicked off the fifth season of Fantasy Factory; prominently featured in the season premiere.
SONIC’S FIRST MUSIC VIDEO - FEATURING OK GO
Sonic collaborated with viral-video geniuses OK Go to create a remarkable first for both car and music worlds. The band used a Sonic to actually play all the instruments in their song “Needing/ Getting.” The result was a spectacular music video that we premiered during the Super Bowl, instantly hitting #1 on YouTube, and racking up 10 million views in the first five days.
SONIC’S FIRST STREET ART – FEATURING JEFF SOTO
Sonic collaborated with the artist Jeff Soto to create its first mural in Oakland, CA. Soto worked together with a team of robotics engineers and programmers for four months to pull off this artistic first. In his words, “The world’s first robotic art car.”
SONIC’S FIRST SUPER BOWL
Come Super Bowl time, the viral videos of Sonic’s firsts had over 120 million views. It was time to tell everyone else what Sonic had been up to. After “Sonic Anthem” aired on Super Bowl Sunday, Sonic saw a 680% increase in Google search. Sonic already has 150% more Facebook friends than the Ford Fiesta.
Two days later, the song from Sonic’s Super Bowl spot, “We Are Young”, hit #1 on iTunes, going from #38 to #1 in 48 hours.
SONIC’S FIRST WORLD RECORD
Fashioned after the classic carnival game, we turned Hollywood’s famous Roosevelt Hotel into the World’s Largest Claw Game—the world’s first playable, interactive 3-D projection, officially verified by Guinness World Records. The prizes included everything you need in order to do your own firsts—from dream vacations to sports gear to a Chevy Sonic.
GAME OF FIRSTS: EARN A SONIC WITH YOUR FIRST TIMES
LetsDoThis.com, the blog of Sonic’s firsts, invited people to do their own firsts for a chance to win a Sonic. You could also download an app to post proof of your first times as they happened.