Take for example, Volvo. In 2004, the car company utilized the short film method to try and change the perception of Volvo as an “old man” car company. Trying to appeal to young, affluent Europeans, Volvo created a mock documentary about 32 people from the Swedish town Dalarö who all bought Volvo S40s on the same day. As a result of the film, Volvo actually sold out of S40 cars for a period of time, proof that this method of message distribution can be quite effective.

On the other hand, marketers must be aware of the ethical quandary of short films as well. The film must be transparent enough for the user to realize that the film is indeed an advertisement. In the case of Volvo, the car company caught some flack for another issue: they initially sold the mock documentary as an authentic one (before outing themselves with an additional fake documentary that exposed the first as a fake). Volvo took a huge risk that the audience may view the company as untrustworthy and deceptive. Fortunately, the target audience thought the campaign clever and compelling, looking at Volvo with new eyes. Yet, this is a lesson to all marketers to think first about the ethical nature of your message because sometimes the risk isn’t worth losing your customers’ trust.