To exhibit the lightness of its new Volvo Dynamic Steering system, Volvo Trucks has set up a publicity stunt that uses a carrot-hungry, cute and cuddly hamster. As a sequel to its previous video featuring its president Claes Nilsson performing a stunt, Volvo released another video as component of the marketing campaign for its FMX trucks, showing that its newest steering system is so simple and effortless to handle that you can steer it with just the tip of your finger!
After training little hamster Charlie for weeks, the team placed the pint-sized rodent inside a a hamster cage/wheel mounted on top of the steering wheel, making the hamster, efficiently ‘steer’ the truck as it ran. The hamster was directed by the stunt driver Seon Rogers who handled the pedals and with a carrot as bait, guided Charlie to turn truck in necessary direction.
Volvo set out to show that the new 15-ton FMX truck could climb to the top of a dangerously steep and narrow rough quarry in Los Tres Cunados, in northwest Spain.
It was a crazy experiment, as one mistake could have proven very costly for both the driver and the hamster Charlie; not to mention the damage to the awesome truck. Without a doubt, the test wasn’t as easy as shown in the edited commercial video, but it’s still highly impressive seeing a 175-gram hamster steering a 15-tonne truck up the road.
There were a few tense moments, like when the truck hit a big rock boulder sending it crashing down into the water below, but in the end Charlie managed to steer the large vehicle across the finish line. For Volvo to release the video, you know beforehand the driver and the hamster made it alive, but it still accounts for an attention-grabbing watch. It’s definitely an inspiring commercial.
