Apr 29, 2008 6:05 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Richard Tedesco

VW took its poll about what the people want to a new dimension on an electronic screen in Times Square.

Volkswagen has incorporated live polling through an electronic screen in New York City’s Times Square into its current Web-based popular opinion campaign.

That campaign, aimed at engaging consumers with the brand, is the latest phase of VW’s Das Auto marketing effort. It had engaged 666,375 people at latest count to register yes or no responses to a number of consumer-generated questions.

The questions cover a range of real-world issues, such as whether real names should not have to be used on social networking sites (62% said yes), whether there should be fewer reality TV shows (87% said yes), or the most popular question, drawing more than 12,000 responses: whether people want to take those tiny soap and shampoo bottles from hotel rooms (only 27% said no).

Most people have responded to the poll’s momentous queries online at http://vw.com.whatthepeople, where Max, the talking Beetle of the TV ads, invites them to participate.

Last Friday, VW added the interactive element via the ABC SuperSign in Times Square, where Max can now be seen on the 3,685-foot screen and people can file text messages via cell phones to respond to the most popular questions as they appear on the screen. Their votes are counted on a live news ticker below the screen.

The overall polling effort started two weeks ago, with people alerted by print ads to the opportunity to pose questions as well as answer them.

“It’s just another component of our brand campaign,” VW spokeswoman Mya Walters said.

That campaign, being managed by Crispin Porter Bugusky, kicked off earlier this year with online teasers featuring Max, followed by the print and ads. The campaign will continue with additional elements as VW rolls out five new vehicle models this year.

The polling pushes people to the VW site, where they can purchase customizable T-shirts of their favorite poll questions and who submitted it. The most popular questions—those drawing 1,000 or more responses—are readily accessible on the front page of the site.

The poll is entirely apolitical, although it does ask whether you would like to be president. Only 30% responded positively to that one.

VW and GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media also conducted a poll of questions they developed and got responses from a representative national sample.

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