Imagine this. It\u2019s another busy day in the city today. You’re not even in a hurry since working at the office fills you with dread every day. And on your way, you stumble upon the usual flight of stairs and the slow-moving escalator going up. Except that this time, the stairs are shaped like a piano keyboard and each step that you take produces a tone. Which path would you take if you were going up? The stairs or the escalator?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I bet you\u2019d choose the stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is exactly what Volkswagen did in 2009 with their Piano Staircase Initiative. Volkswagen wanted to know how they could convince people to take the stairs instead of the escalator. So, they turned an often overlooked flight of stairs into a piano keyboard. People eventually realized how much fun it was to make music with their footsteps. Surprisingly, 66% more people than normal chose the stairs over the escalator than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Piano Staircase Initiative<\/a> was the first in a series of fun social experiments in Volkswagen\u2019s unique brand campaign called \u201cThe Fun Theory.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> The automotive company also had other fun projects in the campaign: the world\u2019s deepest trash bin<\/a>, shopping cart fast lanes<\/a> in supermarkets, and a slide for people who are in a rush to go downstairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Volkswagen\u2019s The Fun Theory<\/em> campaign quickly became viral. And soon, people and brands from around the world started to bring more fun to everybody\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These trash bins in Lucerne, Switzerland encouraged people to throw their trash by showing a fun way to get the trash into the trash bin. The trash bin on the left shows a free throw line where people can shoot their trash from. Meanwhile, the one of the right invites people to hopscotch their way towards the trash bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Fun Theory in Action<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n