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Big Orange Slide

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

Turning bad parking into good PR

November 3, 2009 by Steve Rhind

Did you see the video of the Toronto woman who loses control in a parking lot and launches her SUV over two parked cars and then speeds away, leaving in her wake two destroyed vehicles and two very unhappy owners?

Hyundai Canada did. And they jumped on its as an opportunity to provide one of the victims (who happend to own a 2004 Hyundai) with a brand new Hyundai Elantra Touring. They presented it to him at the scene of the crime and then uploaded the footage to Youtube:

Since being posted three days ago, Hyundai’s video has received nearly 50,000 views – and counting fast. It’s a great little story that will likely spread quickly for Hyundai.

I have to give Hyundai credit for jumping quickly on an opportunity and doing something good for one of their customers. In addition, I haven’t been able to find a press release yet, so it appears they have only announced this action through Youtube. Not trying to turn this into a typical PR story is another savvy move for Hyundai that’ll enhance their perceived authenticity. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they get far more media attention because of it.

What will become of the owner of the other car that was destroyed (it wasn’t a Hyundai)? Will their manufacturer step up and help out? Or will another brand step in for some attention. We’ll have to wait and see.

And by the way, Canada’s worst driver has since been caught and charged with failing to remain at the scene.

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