Theres been some great commercials this year, but by far my favorite campaign is that for the Dodge Journey. Dodge left 3 of their Journeys out in the “world wide world” across America and whoever finds them gets to keep them. The campaign’s clues to the locations are given on Dodge’s YouTube page. I know, it seems strange that Dodge is telling you to “get out there” when the campaign is so reliant on the internet. But, I feel this was the best way to do it. Point being to use technology to find the location then go get it. Moreover, the main point here was to get people out of the house and go have some real adventure. It targets the people who the Journey was made for and capitalizes on those adventurous and ambitious characteristics.
As im writing this, the first 2 Journeys were found rather quickly within 24 hours, but the 3rd currently is on its second day with no winner yet. The first couldn’t have gone any better, and guess who found it? An adventurous father and son who “love to explore”. The kind of people this vehicle was intended for. I believe Dodge wanted the cars to go to people just like them. Congratulations.
The second one unfortunately comes with some controversy. Seems an Oklahoma St Trooper had some “inside info” on this ones location. The State Police shut down some highway for Dodge’s filming and it was a State Trooper who found the car. https://blogs.automotive.com/breaking-second-dodge-journey-found-winner-declines-contest-prize-57177.html The official statement is he “declined” the prize, but my guess is Dodge wasn’t going to give it to him and decided to use the “he declined the prize” angle to make the State trooper look good. Not sure whats going to happen to the car.
So the third one is still up, and ive been following the clues and the whole thing the whole weekend. The theme here seems to be “paradox” and because its currently unsolved, I cant say how this ties in 100%, but the clues have lead people from Albany, NY to Portland, ME. Looking at all the pictures, video, and internet searching it looks like a beautiful ride between the 2 points.
While following the clues and whatnot, since im in Florida and have no way to the northeast, ive been reading a lot of the comments coming in through the Dodge YouTube feed. What is painfully obvious is so many people have completely missed the point of this campaign. “what a wild goose chase” and “glad I didn’t waste my gas driving around Vermont” and the like keep coming up. I hope whoever does find the final one isn’t one of these people who are in it purely for the car. These people don’t get it, and obviously not in Dodges target audience. Bruce and Matthew who found the first car are those that get it and deserve the car, because they would not have been disappointed if they did not win. The point of the campaign is to get you outside, into the world, explore the outdoors and have some adventure. Wheather its by yourself, with your family, or friends. Its not the destination, it’s the journey. Well done Dodge.
UPDATE: its been found. you can see the video of the winner here: http://www.youtube.com/user/dodge
also, while browsing the comments quickly i found this one. this is what its all about.
Thank You DODGE... I had an amazing time and saw alot of places that I probably never would have, your intentions to get people out there to see the world worked out very well, I saw alot and plan to go back to the area with my family