VW Polo Viral

I'm sure you'll have heard about this VW Polo Viral by now. I had a very quick look around a couple of sites and the official line is that it was created by Lee and Dan, a "creative team working in London" who, according to several sites, claimed "The ad got out accidentally and has spread like wildfire. It wasn't meant for public consumption."
Which is a little hard to swallow because as ad-rag.com points out the ad was on the Lee and Dan website, as confirmed by all the links to the now redundant page on their site..

The New York Post reported

Internet blogs and chatboards speculated that the ad was intentional and sanctioned by Volkswagen as part of a so-called "viral" campaign intended to generate buzz and rapidly spread via the Internet.

but in the same article it states

Volkswagen is planning to take legal action against the masterminds behind a hoax VW commercial depicting a suicide bomber.

and includes quotes from VW denying any involvement.

Earthlink.com pointed out

Consumers, on the other hand, can now wonder whether each supposed hoax is an authorized, but deniable, below-the-radar marketing ploy.

Ad-rag.com spoke to Dan, of Lee and Dan and said that "Lee and Dan are extremly tightlipped about who furnished them with the cash to film this, but they will tell us that they wrote the script and they worked with a Director named Stuart"

Which is extra interesting considering the Guardian said

The mystery deepened after MediaGuardian.co.uk tracked down the makers of the film, who revealed that some distinctively professional techniques had been used: it had been shot on 35mm film, not something an amateur would usually do, and cost £40,000, not a sum an amateur could afford.

However, to wrap up, the Guardian then has a final piece which says Lee and Dan are Lee Ford and Dan Brooks and said "Mr Ford put the cost of the advert at £40,000, but Mr Fryer said the cost was "more like £400"." - I have no idea who Mr Fryer is though, he doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere else in the article!

The same article reports

Volkswagen will not seek damages from the creators of a fake advert that showed a suicide bomber blowing himself up in a VW Polo, after reaching a legal settlement with the pair.

VW has achieved its goal of distancing itself from the spoof ad - which was made by London-based advertising creatives Lee Ford and Dan Brooks for their showreel but was emailed around the world - creating a public relations headache for the German car maker.

The piece also reminds people about the Ford Ka ads, such as the one where the Ka cuts a cats head off and says "Ford distanced itself from the adverts, but they were made by its advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather."

All of which still leaves me wondering about plausible deniability and viral marketing.