Complimentary Car Captures

The Great Volkswagen Art Heist Places Framed Photos up for Grabs

No matter which brand of automobile you drive, you will not be impervious to the Great Volkswagen Art Heist, a new creative campaign from the German vehicle geniuses.

Agency Red Urban produced the idea to take tons of photos of long exposure Jetta tail lights and hang them in random locations around Canada as mini art galleries. The framed photos hang in sets of three and are the coolest in car stills; each one is a different design and is hand numbered for authenticity. The twist is that passersby are actually encouraged to swipe the artwork and then share the scene that features your newly acquired prints via Facebook.

Calling all car lovers and kleptomaniacs, the Great Volkswagen Art Heist is a social experiment that promotes the release of the 2012 Jetta GLI.

Interactive Advertising
The Volkswagen Art Heist campaign demonstrates the impact of interactive advertising by getting people to engage with the brand in a unique way.
Guerrilla Marketing
The use of unexpected locations for art galleries and encouraging passersby to 'steal' the artwork is a brilliant example of guerrilla marketing.
User-generated Content
By encouraging people to share their 'stolen' artwork on Facebook, Volkswagen is taking advantage of the power of user-generated content to increase brand awareness and engagement.

Sectors Adopting This

Automotive
Creative campaigns like the Volkswagen Art Heist demonstrate the potential for the automotive industry to use unique marketing tactics to promote their products.
Art
The use of long exposure car tail light photos as framed art highlights the potential for collaboration between the automotive and art industries.
Social Media
By encouraging people to share their 'stolen' artwork on Facebook, Volkswagen is leveraging the power of social media to increase brand reach and engagement.
SCORE
0.8 out of 10
GENDER
50% Men50% Women
MARKETTop markets: North America, Europe, Asia
GENERATION
  • Gen Z
  • Gen Alpha
  • Millennial (primary audience)
  • Gen X (primary audience)
POPULARITY
Popularity 1%
Activity 14%
Freshness 8%

Solutions for innovators working at the edge of change. We help transform emerging ideas into practical, durable solutions by combining strategic thinking, creative exploration, and hands-on execution.

Trends © 2026 Trend Hunter Inc. All Rights Reserved.
LinkedIn Instagram X