After 63 years, the last Kombi production line in the world closed its doors in Brazil. Our job was to create a campaign for the end of production and advertise the special series, “Kombi Last Edition.”

In place of a cold economic announcement, our strategy was to show that we were not just talking about a car, but rather a symbol. We were practically bidding farewell to a member of the family.

Instead of simply announcing the end of production, we created the “unlaunch” of a car, a novelty in the automobile industry. The news made a splash across the world; people were invited to visit the site and submit their stories with the car, as well as checking out the “Kombi Last Edition.” Journalists worldwide were also invited to come to Brazil and follow the production on the world’s last Kombi.

After two months’ worth of submissions, we chose the best stories and created the “Kombi’s Will.” A list with its heirs and its last wishes.

The Kombi would deliver all of its bequests, each stop becoming a chapter of a webseries. The fulfillment of its last wish became a short film narrated by the Kombi itself, featuring a reunion with the son of the car’s creator – technically speaking, its brother.

That’s how a car that would never be produced again managed to touch millions of people and leave a legacy for its brand. The last Kombi made news across the world, generating over $40,000,000 in earned media.

The campaign went as follows:

The “unlaunch,” Volkswagen’s official announcement on the discontinuation, invited people to submit their stories of the car to the website. Journalists from across the world were also invited to come to Brazil and follow production on the world’s last Kombi.

The most emblematic stories appeared in the “Kombi’s Will,” released in major media outlets, in which the Kombi informed its heirs that, before leaving, it wanted to deliver personalized bequests.

One by one, the Kombi delivered its gifts, each stop becoming a chapter in the webseries. And the Kombi’s last wish became a short film where the car was reunited with the son of its creator – technically, its brother.

The short film showing the fulfillment of the car’s last wishes was used as content, a tribute to the Kombi, thus staking out massive space in the media and fantastic brand-image returns for Volkswagen.

Sales – Production on the 'Kombi Last Edition' was doubled, with the car being sold at $40,000, 100% above market price.

Spontaneous media – Reports on major TV stations, newspapers, and websites, representing earnings of over $40,000,000.

Social media – The 'last wishes' post set a record for likes and shares for Volkswagen Brazil, and searches including the word 'Kombi' went up 80% on Google.

Short film – In a week, the film was watched for an accumulated period equivalent to 8 years, with millions of views and a 98.8% positive reaction.