The Beetle may not have a tailgate, but trust us: Volkswagen knows how to party. In fact, we kicked off a one-year partnership with Rolling Stone yesterday with the Volkswagen Rock Roll Fan Tailgate Party. In the hours leading up to the Big Game, 3,500 of our closest friends gathered just three blocks from Lucas Oil Stadium at The Crane Bay in Indianapolis for the ultimate pre-game experience.
Music fans enjoyed live performances by Jane’s Addiction and The Roots, while celebrity DJ Pete Wentz spun records between sets. All that dancing is bound to make anyone hungry, so tailgaters were treated to food prepared by award-winning chef John Besh. And fans of the Beetle lined up to check out two 2012 Beetles wrapped in the colors of the two competing football teams.
We even selected a handful of lucky fans to be on the receiving end of a pass from Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. That’s right: they got an opportunity to recreate “The Catch,” one of the most memorable events in football history. The fans ran a special route across custom-built end zones in the center of the Tailgate party and leaped for their moment of glory. One lucky fan, [NAME HERE], won the Ultimate Fan Experience: the chance to watch the game with Joe Montana himself.
At the Fan Photo Op, we gave partiers custom football jerseys and asked them to write what they’re fans of. (Spoiler alert: some people wrote “VW Beetle.” We thank them.) They then had their picture taken in front of a custom backdrop. It was like school picture day for grown-ups, except that everyone was smiling. And because the biggest football game of the year is ultimately a competitive event, we let fans compete in our Be the MVP Match Game. Fans answered trivia questions provided by Volkswagen and Rolling Stone for a chance to win limited-edition prizes.
Not every fan wants to compete, but everyone enjoys taunting the opposition. Our Taunt Send Booth allowed fans to record short videos expressing their team pride, trash talk the other team, or both (what we’d call a “hybrid”). Fans then shared the videos across their social networks, the next-best thing to getting in someone’s face.
All in all, the party was a huge success, and we couldn’t imagine spending Game Day with anyone but our great Volkswagen fans. By now, you’ve probably seen our Big Game commercial but it can’t hurt to watch it again, can it?
Tell us: how was your Game Day party?
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