Vanapalooza, a history of the van

Vanapalooza is the fun and informative animated video that celebrates Mercedes-Benz’s rich heritage. A short and entertaining story on how the van was created and how it helped us evolve, more or less.

“Mercedes-Benz wanted to tie its rich hundred-year heritage as the pioneer of the commercial gasoline-powered van into the current Sprinter without seeming stuffy. The solution? Animation! It lets you be both fun and informative. We called it “Vanapalooza!” “

The van plays an important role in our lives, it makes things much easier, and without it some aspects of our daily routine would never be the same. But without a couple of competitive germans and lot of beer, the van would not even exist. In 1896 Daimler had enough of tired horses and added a gasoline engine on a cart, he invented the first truck. Seeing the potential, Benz added a box on the top of his truck, and the van was born. A couple of years later, the two companies merged, and Mercedes-Benz was born.
By the 1970’s the van became a symbol in our culture. There where van rallies. There where van meetups. It even helped us solve crimes (Scooby Doo).You would see vans dressed like dogs (Dumb and Dumber), or help special forces units fight commandos(the A-team). Without the van, some of us would not even be here (until now I was smiling, after seeing this last part, I was laughing really hard).

I love the storytelling. It has it’s own personality, guess this is why they named it “a history” and not “the history”. It’s informative and entertaining. It has a typical beginning, we where here and now we are here. But when they implement the van in our culture , that’s where the fun starts. We have Scooby Doo, the A-team, Dumb and Dumber.
1 minute and 30 second of pure, colorful, smart and funny animation.
Well done to all the guys involved in the project! Vanapalooza made my day.

Client: Highh Gear Media
Brand: Mercedes-Benz USA via Merkley+Partners
Creative Director: Ray Wert, Tiny Toy Car
Creative Inspiration: Mallory McMorrow, Helo
Design Elements: Cub Studio / Fraser Davidson
Animation:Pluto