The Think Blue Beetle was Volkswagen India’s endeavour to reinforce their commitment to the environment, which among other things, manifests as numerous technological features their products employ to enhance their global sustainability agenda. The aim was to create a work of art out of industrial waste, to signify the importance of recycling, repurposing material and reducing the carbon footprint.The theme of the exercise was Mukti (a form of Nirvana, a liberation from the cycle of reincarnation, by reusing the material after their primary purpose has been served).

We crafted the iconic shape of the VW Beetle from scratch, using only discarded material, industrial scrap, material left over from every manner of product consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, surplus materials and other so-called junk from various clean-up drives across the city, as well as visiting junkyards, scrap dealers and other sources.This Beetle was christened the Think Blue Beetle, and was shown at major events across the country, in order to spread awareness of the steps taken by Volkswagen to promote sustainability, in a creative and engaging manner. A plaque accompanying the installation explained the company’s objective as well as the various measures it takes to for the environment. An engagement model was also involved, wherein viewers of the piece could get commemorative photographs with it, as reminders to incorporate Think Blue into their daily lives as well.

First we collected waste material through cleanliness drives at various places in Mumbai and New Delhi.We then engaged an artist Haribabu Natesan, who specialises in creating art out of scrap, and commissioned a life-size rendition of the Volkswagen Beetle. This involved over 16 days of painstakingly sorting through the accumulated material, and creating a car using over 2,805 pieces of junk: discarded spark plugs, audio cassettes, typewriters, audio speakers, mobile phones, wire mesh, plastic bottles, etc.The Beetle was unveiled at the Delhi T3 airport terminal, during the Auto Show 2012. A multimedia set-up was created, including an AV, a digital set-up connected the live location to Volkswagen’s micro-site and Facebook pages, customised photographs with visitors and promoters engaging people via an information plaque on the heritage of Volkswagen and Think Blue. A similar exercise was undertaken at the Kala Ghoda Arts festival in Mumbai.

The results of the Think Blue Beetle initiative was most satisfying.Over 1165 Facebook ‘likes’. Over 1,100 commemorative photographs shared on the Facebook wall. Maximum recall for the installation among all projects at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (as per a dipstick survey conducted on site).Becoming a major talking point all over India, the Think Blue Beetle made the headlines across 4 TV news channels, 11 newspapers, 48 websites and 7 magazines. It garnered a cumulative ad value estimated at R28,51,473, thus giving Indians an evocative example of the joys of recycling and smart usage of resources, principles central to Volkswagen’s Think Blue philosophy.