AMSTERDAM (BRAIN) — E-bike brand VanMoof produced its first U.S. television ad to demonstrate the joy and ease of commuting in congested big cities.
This is VanMoof's second-ever TV commercial, the first debuting last summer in Europe and later banned in France for creating a "climate of fear" of vehicular traffic. VanMoof said the goal of its new "short film," The Future is Forwards, is to stoke the momentum of alternative transportation modes that began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The one-minute commercial, directed by Paul Geusebroek, opens with a scene of big-city gridlock, showing sweaty commuters stuck in traffic while the beginning of Brighter Side plays. A fender-bender is shown unfolding in reverse with angry drivers amid a fog of pollution, and a packed city bus with frustrated passengers.
A VanMoof bike commuter is followed zipping through, oblivious to the chaos. VanMoof says the commercial "demonstrates that returning to the dysfunctional status-quo of congestion, pollution, and road rage is not the way forward. Riding bikes, on the other hand, is the breath of fresh air that both our environment and city-dwellers desperately need."
The campaign runs worldwide on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, and will be shown on U.S. television this month as well as in the Netherlands and Germany.
"My aim was that the end of the film feels like a breath of fresh air," said Geusebroek, director at Amsterdam-based production company HALAL. "This bicycle stands for not just the environment, but also for escaping the rut that people are in — for cycling out of that 9-to-5 grind. It stands for freedom. Everyone is stuck, but this person is just breezing through."
The U.S. is now the focus of VanMoof's growth market. VanMoof has brand stores in New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, with a Los Angeles store opening in the fall.
