When I moved to Derby in the 80s, I always remember seeing the Rollerworld Rollerboot car doing its promotional rounds. Of course, back then it was another effective way of promotion and advertising, besides billboards and printed media. It certainly attracted attention wherever it appeared. It worked also as I wanted to go after seeing the Rollerboot. Unfortunately being a 9-year-old Bambi on ice, I managed to knock someone clean over. They were fine. However, I was mortified that I had hurt someone and since then never donned said skates again. 

The refurbished Rollerboot car came back into play in September 2015. The poor thing had been sitting in a field for over a decade.

Rollerworld brings the boot out on sunny days and messages out on their social channels to get down and grab a selfie with the synonymous foot attire. 

Red Bull MINI Coopers

At the time of studying for my degree in Visual Communications in Leeds, there were frequent sightings and samples of the Red Bull cars with their fleet of 15 custom MINI Coopers. Painted in the traditional company colours of blue and silver, with a four-foot high model of a can of Red Bull perched on the back, they never failed to catch your eye.

Introduced in 1999, the Mini Cooper was the obvious choice to complement the fresh and alternative message of Red Bull. When the ‘old’ Mini went out of production, Red Bull added eight Volkswagen Beetles to the fleet instead.

Creme Egg Cars

Cadbury had five ‘Creme Egg Cars’ made as promotional vehicles, based around the running gear of Bedford/Vauxhall Rascal vans, and using Citroen 2CV headlights. As their name suggests, the Creme Egg Cars were ovular vehicles, painted to look like Creme Eggs, and driven around the UK to promote this seasonal chocolate treat.

Birds Eye Pea Car

The Pea Car first appeared in a Birds Eye television advertisement in December 2005. The car took 6 weeks to build, weighs about 750kg and has no gears. It was based on the chassis of an off-road go-kart that was heavily modified for the purposes of the advert. The head lamps came from a VW Beetle and the indicators came from a Lancia. 

It was not road legal and had no working doors. The Pea Car is now on display at the Unilever Ice cream and Frozen Foods Co. in Walton on Thames. Super cute isn’t it?

I couldn’t finish this article without mentioning The Tour de France

One of the stars of the Tour De France in the eyes of the waiting public is the promotional caravan. This fleet of floats and cars and motorbikes travels a few hours ahead of the racing, playing music and throwing branded giveaways to onlookers. I believe the more bonkers the vehicles look the better.

WDA are big fans of the 2-wheel mode of transport without an engine. Lee Waterhouse, the founder of WDA Automotive Marketing, is a cycling nut. Louis, our Account Manager, rode from London to Paris on a Fixie (yes a Fixie) and you will catch Sam our Digital Marketing Executive hitting the trails on a weekend. As for me, I have left my road bike Thor (it is a Viking) in the shed for now. I did point out at the top of this article about being Bambi on ice!

The team have worked on branding and campaign projects with Cycle Derby and Black Mountain Bikes.

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