Volkswagen abandons traditional marketing in favor of iPhone game for GTI launch

A car manufacturer using a video game as a promotional tool is nothing new; Toyota generated a lot of buzz with its laughably bad (but free!) Yaris on Xbox Live Arcade two years ago. However, Volkswagen is taking the adver-gaming concept a huge step forward, by releasing a free iPhone game in lieu of a traditional advertising campaign. Don't expect to see any television commercials for the 2010 GTI -- for now, Volkswagen is committed to promoting its new vehicle exclusively through its App Store game.

Real Racing GTI should be available for download right now, and thankfully, it's no Yaris. Instead of crafting an entirely original game, Volkswagen collaborated with developer Firemint to release a free "lite" version of its popular Real Racing game that exclusively features the new GTI car.

"Launching the all-new 2010 GTI via the Real Racing GTI App allows us to connect with this savvy GTI consumer within his or her everyday life in a way that no 30-second spot ever could," Tim Ellis, Volkswagen's VP of Marketing, said in an advance press release. While it's true a free game will give individuals lengthy exposure to the brand, we still have our doubts about its reach. Ellis assured us that Apple was an ideal partner to work with, and that while alternatives (like PlayStation and Xbox) were considered, an exclusive arrangement with Apple ensured that the app would be prominently promoted, not to be lost amongst the dozens of fart apps that litter the service. Volkswagen hopes that through word-of-mouth alone, Real Racing GTI will be able to garner at least two million downloads. Considering the comparatively low cost of this promotion, coming shy of that benchmark probably won't be too devastating.

You can check out a video of the original Real Racing after the break.