Good Idea, Bad Idea: Vol. 1

Good Idea: Trying to create buzz for your redesigned new model release with a viral video.

Bad Idea: Trying to create buzz for your redesigned new model release with a viral video in which the car just sorta drives around in CGI.

The 2008 Impreza hasn't even gone on sale yet and it's already taken more criticism than all of last season's American ldol hopefuls combined. Enthusiasts don't like the hatchback bodystyle and the weird grille, tuners are wary of the new engine's plastic intercooler end tanks and Internet favor is quickly turning in favor of the new EVO X. Subaru needs help now.

So what do they do? They spend lots of money on a Japanese-themed three-part "epic series" featuring a new WRX sliding through the woods, crusing the highway and tooling around an anonymous Asian city. And incidentally, doing all that without a driver. Unless Subaru is covertly touting a secret advancement in robotic driving technology, it's hard to see the point. Add to that the fact that it just looks over-produced (too slick, no real plot, no dialogue to follow) and that it was released over a three-week span, giving us plenty of time to lose interest, and it becomes clear that Subaru doesn't quite get it.

Spy videos of the new STi at the Nurburgring did far more for the brand than all the cash Subaru spent on the "Legend Returns" clips. Enthusiasts aren't stupid. We know Subaru is trying to go mainstream with the '08, and we all have our opinions on the looks, but the five-door is a lighter, stiffer car with a more advanced rear suspension than the old GD chassis. We need to be assured that the WRX and new STi will still be driver's cars. We know we're the intended viewers here, too. Let's face it- the moms in the new target market won't be watching virals! It'll be the younger, more tech-savvy buyers who end up watching these clips, and content is king in this arena. With no hook, no excitement and no humor, viewers have no reason to pass the video along-which is the point of a good viral in the first place.

Give us a video of a real (non-CGI) WRX being put through its paces on a rally stage. Give us jumps and slides and in-car cameras to capture the real feel of thrashing the new car. Give us Ken Block strapping a camera to the nose and roaring through a forest. Hell, give us more shots of the new WRC car! Give us anything with substance.

But DON'T feed us this crap. If the WRX can stand on its own as a performance car, drive it hard-in the REAL WORLD-and show what it can do. We'll be perfectly happy to send it to our friends and help you build buzz, but first you have to give us something that doesn't suck.

I have to admit though, the sign in the video that says "Traffic Report: One Shiny Truck" is pretty hilarious.