Mitsubishi buys Metros front page - in seven countries

The Colt campaign that we reported about in May Strawberryfrog drives Colt under water. is now driving us barking mad all over Europe. Posters are everywhere and the commercial with a woman driving under water flirting with some sub marine men is on all channels all the time.
Had it been above ground and a truck driver the Mitsubishi lady might have been more inclined to react the same way Thelma and Lois does, but under water she seems thrilled to be ogled at from above as she steers her little car down the banks. How odd. To really make sure the punters see this campaign, Mitsubishi is buying the cover of Metro - in seven different countries.
The extreme media buy campaign begins today, a Metro reader will be greeted by an extra cover around the paper, and the driving adventure continues on the inside pages where the Colt carries on driving at the bottom. The seven Metro countries are Sweden, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and of course, the UK.

Metro has been chosen for this campaign since it's truly pan-european and read by the target market 18-35 year old women. Hang on, that means I'm the target - funny, I don't read metro. ;)

This reminds me of something Dave Trott once said about an equally media-rich campaign. "I don't have a good idea so give me thirty million bucks." The sales will tell us if this works, but speaking as a girl in the target market - that commercial is not talking to me. Shouldn't the message be more important than the media buy? Go ahead, call me old fashioned. I'll wait.

The height of irony perhaps, but Metro is usually only found in the subway, the underground, le metro, tunnelbana - the readers use public transportation rather than drive their own cars. I wouldn't call that an ideal place to advertise a car, since their public transportation choice may very well be a lifestyle by choice.

Ad agency: StrawberryFrog