Christmas Assist Ball
Volkswagen
Issue 50 | February 2019
Agency
DDB Group Italy
Creative Team
Creative Executive Creative Directors Luca Cortesini, Gabriele Caeti Creative Directors Gabriele Goffredo, Maurizio Tozzini Art Director Daniele Baglioni Copywriter Gianluca Nucaro
Production Team
Production Agency Karen Executive Producer Tommaso Pellicci Producer Alessandro Naboni Director Mauro Lodi
Date
December 2018
Background
Every year, Christmas decorations increase energy consumption by 30%.
Idea
Christmas Assist Ball is a smart solution inspired by Volkswagen driver-assist technology, that turns on the tree lights when someone gets closer. And turns them off when nobody is in the room. The VW bauble is designed to reduce energy consumption without losing the magic.
Results
Not yet available.
Our Thoughts
I have been collecting examples of pointless innovation. One of my favourites is the app you download to your mobile phone which measures how high you can throw your mobile up into the air.
Here’s another pretty pointless innovation, a Christmas bauble with a built-in motion sensor.
In this case, however, it is deliberately pointless, while making an implicit statement about Volkswagen’s fuel-saving Bluemotion technologies. The video from VW explains how the bauble works before asking, But do you really need it? And answering, No.
As the final caption says, Turn off the lights. Sometimes intelligence is the best technology. A gentle reminder that we can all do our bit to protect the environment simply by being thoughtful.