Volkswagen Canada has always been serious about the superiority of their German engineering. But nobody really wants to watch a serious demonstration of that superiority. So they found a better way to explain just what it is that sets a Volkswagen apart from the competition.

The 24-hour event raises funds for local charities to help sick kids. The Wishwagen concept came from a desire to give these courageous kids something more personal than a big donation. First, the Volkswagen Canada trailer used at all promotional events would be transformed into a mobile 'Wishwagen' where participants could come in, warm up, and warm the heart of a child with a personal message of support. A Wishwagen microsite was designed so that anyone, anywhere, could visit the site and leave a wish, spreading the concept far beyond the physical event itself.

The Wishwagen trailer was visited 2,300 times over 2 days, with an average time taken to record a message of 4 min 48 sec. CRM and SMM initiatives seeded the Wishwagen pre-event and post-event resulting in over 500,000 impressions, with more than 300 personal messages sent to sick children either at home or in hospital.