Tag: McCann Erickson

Volkswagen Facebook Flipbook

You open a Facebook photo gallery called Amarok FlipDrive, click the first image, and keep the right arrow button pressed. The photos flip fast enough to feel like a running movie. A flipbook, built out of a Facebook album.

The reference point. A “commercial” powered by a Twitter feed

In April, Mercedes Smart in Argentina created the first of its kind Tweet Commercial using its Twitter stream. Here, “Tweet Commercial” means the Twitter feed is the engine behind the spot. Now Volkswagen Amarok in Turkey has created the Facebook alternative.

The idea. An all-terrain truck that can even “drive” on Facebook

The Volkswagen Amarok is positioned as an ultimate all terrain vehicle. It can go everywhere. From the city to sand to water. With some creativity from McCann Erickson Istanbul, it can even go on Facebook.

This is the kind of platform-native execution worth copying because it treats navigation as the media layer, not just a way to browse.

How it works. 201 images in sequence

201 images that follow each other in sequence are uploaded to the Amarok FlipDrive Facebook photo gallery. Opening the first photo and keeping the right arrow button pressed makes the photos flip by fast and gives the effect of a running movie.

In global brand marketing teams looking for attention inside social feeds, this is a reminder that interface behavior can be the format.

Why it lands. Viewer control becomes playback

Because the user can hold one familiar key to control speed, the sequence feels like motion without needing a video player. The real question is whether your idea can be expressed as a repeatable gesture the platform already trains people to do.

Extractable takeaway: If a platform has a predictable navigation gesture, you can sequence stills so the gesture becomes playback and the user becomes the “play button”.

The reality check. Caching changes the experience

The flipbook experience is very jerky the first time, but once all the photos are cached (loaded locally after the first pass), it plays as seen in the video below.

What to borrow from Amarok FlipDrive

  • Turn one navigation action into “play”. Upload frames in strict sequence, then let holding the right arrow key act as the playback control.
  • Design for the first-run experience. Expect jerkiness until images are cached, and make sure the idea still reads even when playback is imperfect.
  • Use native mechanics as the “player”. Streams, galleries, and navigation keys can carry a social commercial without introducing a separate media layer.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Volkswagen Facebook Flipbook?

It is a Facebook photo gallery that behaves like a flipbook-style animation when you move quickly through sequential images by holding the right arrow key.

How many images does it use?

201 images, uploaded in sequence.

What does the user do to “play” it?

Open the first photo in the album and keep the right arrow key pressed to flip through the sequence fast enough to feel like motion.

Why is the first run jerky?

Because the images are not yet cached. Once the browser has loaded them once, playback becomes smoother.

What is the broader pattern?

Using native platform mechanics, such as streams, galleries, and navigation keys, as the media layer for a social commercial.

Coca-Cola: Wallet of Happiness Honesty Test

An honesty test on a crowded Lima street

As part of an experiment in a very crowded Lima district in Peru, Coca-Cola with their agency McCann Erickson deliberately left a wallet containing $100 on the street. With it they tested people’s honesty.

A $100 question, asked in public

The brilliance is how quickly the situation reads. Find the wallet. Notice the money. Decide what kind of person you want to be, with nobody asking you anything.

In social experiment storytelling, a simple moral trigger creates instant comprehension and invites viewers to project themselves into the decision. Here, a moral trigger means a moment that forces a right-versus-wrong choice without explanation.

In global FMCG brand storytelling, street-level honesty tests like this travel because they turn a private value into a public, watchable moment.

Why you keep watching

You are not just judging strangers. You are quietly measuring yourself against what you hope you would do. The real question is what you do when the right choice is clear, but no one is holding you accountable. That internal comparison is the engine of the film. Because the choice is legible and unprompted, viewers can run the same decision in their own head, which keeps them watching.

Extractable takeaway: If your mechanic makes viewers instantly ask “what would I do,” the story carries itself without narration.

What the experiment is trying to reveal

People’s honesty, observed in a real public setting through a simple, high-stakes trigger.

What to borrow from a public honesty test

  • Choose a mechanic that is universal and legible without narration. In this context, “mechanic” means the simple rule that generates the behavior you want to capture.
  • Keep production minimal so human reaction stays central.
  • Let the audience do the interpreting. A good social test creates its own debate.

A few fast answers before you act

What did Coca-Cola do in Lima?

They left a wallet containing $100 on the street in a crowded district to test people’s honesty.

Where did this take place?

In a crowded district of Lima, Peru.

Who created the campaign?

The post credits Coca-Cola and McCann Erickson.

Why does the film hook people so fast?

Because the dilemma is instantly legible: you see the wallet, notice the money, and immediately imagine what you would do.

What was the point of the experiment?

To observe how people would react when they found a wallet with money in a real-world public setting.

ROM: The American Takeover wrapper switch

ROM, made by Kandia Dulce, is the traditional Romanian chocolate bar wrapped in the national flag. It has a nostalgic consumer base. But with younger Romanians it was losing ground to cooler American brands.

So McCann Erickson Bucharest launched “The American Takeover.” ROM’s familiar wrapper was replaced with an American-flag version to provoke the country’s ego and force a reaction. It is a risky deception, because the packaging is the product’s identity.

The trick was not the wrapper, it was the public reflex

The campaign doesn’t try to persuade with copy. It creates a cultural irritant and then lets people do the storytelling for it. By “cultural irritant,” I mean a small, unmistakable provocation that triggers public commentary. The outrage, debate, and defensiveness are the mechanism that “refreshes” ROM back into relevance for the people who had stopped paying attention.

In heritage FMCG categories, packaging is a symbol people feel they own.

The reveal is what makes the stunt more than trolling. The brand flips the wrapper back and turns the backlash into a point about identity, pride, and what it means when local icons try to imitate foreign cool.

The real question is whether you can trigger that reflex and still earn forgiveness when the reveal lands.

This approach is worth attempting only when the reversal is pre-planned and the reveal carries a clear meaning.

Why it worked: it made “cool” feel like betrayal

Younger audiences often default to global brands because the signals are easy. ROM makes that default choice emotionally expensive for a moment. When you see a national icon wearing another flag, you are forced to pick a side, even if you didn’t plan to care.

Extractable takeaway: If you want to revive a heritage brand with youth, you can borrow attention from the culture war around it. But you must do it with a clear reversal and a clear message, otherwise you just burn trust.

What McCann actually engineered

  • A single visual change that could be understood instantly.
  • A provocation that invited discussion beyond advertising channels.
  • A redemption arc that lets the audience feel proud again, and lets the brand look clever rather than cynical.

A legacy-brand refresh playbook

  • Change one symbol, not everything. One sharp deviation creates clarity and talkability.
  • Build a reversible stunt. You need a planned way back to safety once the reaction peaks.
  • Let people carry the message. When the audience argues for you, the brand feels revalidated.
  • Respect the sacred bits. If the brand has a national or cultural role, treat it like identity, not aesthetics.
  • Make the reveal the moral. The stunt is the hook. The reveal is the brand meaning.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “The American Takeover” for ROM?

It is a campaign where ROM replaced its Romanian-flag wrapper with an American-flag version to provoke public backlash, then used the reaction to reassert Romanian pride and renew interest in the brand.

Why was the wrapper switch so risky?

Because ROM’s wrapper is a national symbol as much as a pack design. When you touch that symbol, people react emotionally, not rationally.

What did the campaign win?

It is reported to have won top honours at Cannes Lions, including the Grand Prix in Promo & Activation, and it is also credited with winning the Direct Grand Prix.

What is the core lesson for consumer brands?

If your brand is culturally owned, you can regain relevance by staging a public argument about what it stands for. But the argument must end in a respectful reaffirmation, not a cheap shock.

When should you not copy this approach?

If you cannot control the reversal, if the symbol you are provoking is too sensitive, or if your brand does not have enough goodwill to survive a week of anger.