Volvo doesn't care if you like the new C30. They just want you to play enough games, look at enough pictures, and watch enough cute videos to change your mind. The Volvo S40 is not that nice of a car. For what it costs, there is no reason not to buy a Mazda 3 that sits atop the same Ford family platform. Thus, there is no reason for me to love the C30 hatchback so much. In a recent artcle, our own Georg Kacher wrote that "In line with the overall dynamic mediocrity are the strong but uncommunicative brakes, the much too casual body control,, and the predictably passive handling, which lacks the depth of modularity we are familiar with in the Volkswagen GTI." Yeah, ouch. But the problem is, I want one, in Orinocco blue with a color coordinated body kit and eighteen-inch Atreus wheels. I'm bordering on obsessed with this smart, stylish, and clean little hatch. It's more grown up than a GTI, but still seems just as playful. Maybe I'll never drive one, just so I can keep the dream going.  But the real purpose of this blog is not to gush about the C30's big rear glass hatch, but to draw attention to the microsite Volvo has created for the car. When you first enter, a cartoon character gets out of the car and first loves it, then changes his mind and vomits on the ground next to it. And you've got to check out the commercial where the guy says "it makes me feel like a real man." Or the one about it being "a superhero's safe car." Most of them support the car, but then you click on a video of a crowd screaming "boo!" and throwing tomatoes at the car. The site overall is packed with enough fun games and hilarious videos to rival the microsite of the C30's main competitor, the VW GTI. Is this the beginning of a new advertising age? I think so. Whether you love it or hate it, go check out the C30 at volvocars.com/freewill. Watch a video, play a game, and don't forget to build your own. They had me at hello, but if the C30 hasn't warmed your heart, Volvo is alright with that.
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