With that in mind, it only makes sense that Volkswagen keeps with the Star Wars theme, something they already demonstrated a willingness for when the car company dropped “The Bark Side” commercial. You can add another one the pile now that Volkswagen has debuted their “The Dog Strikes Back” offering, which follows the exploits of Bolt as he tries to get in shape enough to chase the new Volkswagen Beetle.

The commercial in question:

While the commercial was cute — although, it lacks the sweet innocence last year’s had — the fact that Volkswagen was compelled to leak it before this weekend’s Super Bowl brings CNBC scribe Darren Rovell’s query to the forefront — is releasing these kinds of commercials before the Super Bowl a mistake? From Rovell’s perspective:

Think of it this way: If a company believes that it will break through the clutter, and most who have Super Bowl ads do, the value of the ad is worth more if it’s a surprise. And the value of those YouTube hits are worth more as well.

Do you agree with that standpoint? Should advertisers hold their ad copy until the big game is actually on the air? Considering the fact that last year’s awesome Volkswagen/Darth Vader commercial caught everyone by surprise, Rovell might be on to something here.

Check out a preview of “The Bark Side,” set to run during the big game between the 49ers and the Steelers. Oh, wait, the Steelers are out of it? I almost forgot about them losing to the Denver Tebows – my mistake. Carry on:

Dogs, the Imperial March and an AT-AT cameo? What’s not to love? The video is well on its way to becoming a viral mega-hit with nearly 500K views as of the writing of this article.

Of course, the legendary viral smash that this video looks to match is last year’s “The Force” ad. You remember that adorable little kid in the Vader costume, right? To refresh your memory:

“The Bark Side” has a long way to go to match “The Force,” which has over 48.6 million views on YouTube. It might not be as good as this rejected Doritos ad, but I’d say it has a chance, what do you think?

This very topic was discussed by Robert Knorpp at the BlogWorld expo, and thanks to his presentation, we learn one of the biggest keys has to do with inspiring others to react. To drive this point home, Knorpp used to examples: Rebecca Black and the Volkswagen/Darth Vader Super Bowl commercial. Both pieces of content inspired a great deal of reaction, granted, not all of it was positive, but the reaction was the key to these videos living a long life, at least in relation to an Internet lifespan.

From Knorpp’s perspective, the fact that both of these pieces inspired others to react was the key to their extended shelf life. Granted, a great deal of the reaction to Rebecca Black’s content was of the mocking variety, but the fact remains, such reactions are what directly led to her popularity.

It’s almost like the Marilyn Manson approach to publicity, that is, no pub is bad pub.

Of course, if the reaction concerns a product you are trying to sell, you don’t want the reaction to be in the vein of “this is the worst thing ever,” which comprised a great deal what Black’s videos had to face. With that in mind, the reaction of the Darth Vader/Volkswagen commercial is what web marketers should be shooting for, but then again, not everyone can get George Lucas’ approval to use his stuff in their commercials.

To Knorpp, the key isn’t necessarily good content, but content that inspires others to react in a creative manner. The key is balance. Don’t just make a Rebecca Black style of video to promote a widget being sold, because if people actively hate the item, it’s doubtful they’ll be spending much money on it. That being said, good content is a great starting point, just be aware of the reaction it will inspire.

Of course, because of the nature of viral popularity, the content creators have little to no control over the reaction they’ll be greeted with, so be aware of trends, both negative and positive, but at the same time, don’t just copy other people’s work. Create your own piece that’s worthy of becoming viral, or as Knorpp says, keep your audience in perspective when creating this type of content.

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That’s just what Greenpeace did with a pair of videos, painting Volkswagen as the Empire for their failure to improve its poor environmental record. Over at the GreenpeaceUK site, they have a page devoted to the movement, asking users to “Join the Rebellion” against the Empire that is Volkswagen.

From the site’s description:

Our home—Earth—is in trouble. VW opposes key environmental laws we need if we’re going to stop our planet going the way of Alderaan (bye bye). But all is not lost. We feel the good in Volkswagen.

All of us in the Rebellion are calling on Volkswagen to turn away from the Dark Side and give our planet a chance.

The page even has a link to Greenpeace’s full report on Volkswagen’s track record with the environment. A snippet of the introduction text gives readers an idea of where Greenpeace is going with their protestations:

The Volkswagen Group is the largest car maker in Europe. It has repeatedly claimed that it wants to be a‘green’ company, but has so far failed to live up to its green ambitions. It has been slow to make its fleet more efficient, despite having developed the technology to do so, and has actively worked to impede strong European climate policies. The company must change.

The highlight of Greenpeace’s Volkswagen protest comes from the videos they made to get their point across. To do so, Greenpeace mocked the incredibly-popular Darth Vader kid commercial (over 40 million views on YouTube) with not one, but two satirical videos:

Currently, the number of people who’ve joined Greenpeace’s anti-Volkswagen movement is up to 89,112 people.

The most surprising aspect of Greenpeace’s movement is the liberal use of Star Wars material. The protest page is littered with things like “Your Jedi training page,” and “FAQ / FQA with Yoda;” leading this particular writer to believe George Lucas is on board with the protest. Considering just how protective he is over the “Star Wars” brand, and anything related to it, if Greenpeace doesn’t have Lucas’ permission, these pages won’t last very long at all.

Furthermore, the fact that Lucas allowed Volkswagen to use likenesses from the Star Wars universe casts doubt on the idea he’d let Greenpeace use the same kind of look and feel to protest Volkswagen. At some point, we’ll get to find out just how strong the Force in Greenpeace really is.

The first is, as you might expect, a sort of spellchecker.  Type something that’s not quite right, and AutoSpell will incorporate results for the term it thinks you mean to use. 

Say a poor speller wanted to research a “volkswagon,” for example.  “Results are included for Volkswagen,” states the engine by way of correction.  Yet a particularly obstinate poor speller (or a person who was genuinely interested in the incorrect word) would have the option to “[s]how just the results for volkswagon.”

AutoSpell can’t account for every possible mistake, of course.  Still, it’s a handy feature to have.

Similarly, what the Live Search blog describes as “stemming” should be a useful improvement, even if it can’t cover everything.  “[U]sers told us that the search ‘half price book Redmond’ returned horrible results,” acknowledges the post. 

“Searching for ‘half price books Redmond’ produced much better results.  In our new release of Live Search, searches for ‘half price book Redmond’ automatically include results with books in them as well.”

Unfortunately for Microsoft, Google has been on top of both practices for quite some time now.  Google even includes a map of the area around the bookstore. 

Live Search is doing a decent job of catching up, but it has yet to accomplish anything that would pull users from one engine to the other.

Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan made the discovery, and the text is neither a piece of malicious code or some amusing Easter egg; it’s just a typical small-print disclaimer.  “Volkswagen of America presents U.S. vehicle information, pricing, incentives, deals, comparisons . . .”  And so on.  You get the idea.

But, harmless or not, such text is verboten.  “Google has guidelines against using hidden text,” reported Sullivan.  “In fact, such use got a different car maker, BMW, banned briefly from Google last year.”

And, in case you’re thinking that someone at the search engine company should have caught on, Sullivan added, “Even Google has violated its own rules.  Back in 2005, text meant for internal indexing was showing up on public pages, causing one part of Google to file for a reinclusion request with another part of Google.”

That incident was rather embarrassing for Google, however, and this new “oops” may also spur some recriminations within the company; after all, Kevin Gough, a senior product and marketing manager, was enthusiastically praising the carmaker just last month on the Google Enterprise Blog.

One of the first interactions between Google and Volkswagen seemed innocent enough – they attempted to develop a navigation system.  The companies then shared a bit of laughter at the destruction of a Ford Focus, for which I can’t fault them.  But with their latest collaboration – or more specifically, the “invisible” aspect of that collaboration – Google and Volkswagen are starting to raise some eyebrows.

Thai Tran, a product manager at the search engine company, explained the feature in greater detail. “[U]sers in Germany can send a business listing found on Google Maps Deutschland directly to cars enabled with the BMW Assist service,” he wrote. “Drivers can then set it as the destination for the in-car navigation system, or they can call the business from within the car.”

The main point of all this? “No more having to write down the address and re-enter it in the car – now you can just click and drive!” Tran provided a nifty little video if you’d like to see the feature in action. It should make life a little simpler for BMW owners, assuming they can figure out the (reportedly) awful iDrive controller that’s in charge of the operation.

This isn’t a technological breakthrough; Google worked out deals with both Volkswagen and Honda some time ago, and aftermarket navigation systems are capable of similar feats. Still, good for Google – and BMW. Now we just need the companies to bring it this feature to the U.S.

Keep an eye out, considering that Tran concluded, “As additional devices come online, we’re excited to see what is possible, and we’ll continue working to make the information that you need available to you when and where you need it.”

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Over the weekend, when I thought I was off the clock, I found myself grabbing a pen and paper after viewing a television advertisement for Volkswagen’s Google car navigation system. What can I say, except that when an idea is so revolutionary, I will do a little off-duty research.

Volkswagen, Google, and graphics card manufacturer nVidia have been developing the new navigation system for the past year at Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California. The prototype was debuted in January 2006 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and is said to be closer to “virtual reality travel information” than any other product on the market.

Data from Google Earth is used in this revolutionary new system to generate a three-dimensional image of specified routes. In addition, the navigation system gathers online data to relay real-time information, such as traffic and weather, to the driver.

Using a touch-screen interface linked to Google Earth the driver may utilize precise 3-D maps, real time traffic and route guidance updates, as well as the actual Google search engine. Because it is as an open system, the specifications of the system can be modified to the individual driver’s needs.

You might find yourself asking yourself what is so fantastic about this system that I would use the word “revolutionary” to describe it. The answer lies in three different features incorporated into the navigation system, which set it apart from its predecessors.

The first feature being the 3-dimensional, photorealistic display of the area surrounding a destination. This feature makes it easier for the driver to identify and passengers to identify that they are on the correct route, as opposed to simply wondering if they are headed in the right direction.

Secondly, real-time data is fed to the system via a link to the Internet that enables the driver with knowledge of current traffic and weather conditions. Even the closing times of gas stations and restaurants on their route can be accessed.

Lastly, the Google search engine link allows the driver and passenger to access information regarding business and attractions en route to the specified destination. Current movie ticket and merchandise prices are even included in real-time updates.

There is no word yet as to when the prototype will be released, or if Google will only install the navigation system into other company’s cars. One thing is for certain though, if utilized correctly this navigation system has the potential to revolutionize travel.

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Autmn Davis is a staff writer for WebProNews covering ebusiness and technology.

Using Google Earth, the service overlays current color-coded traffic information to help drivers find the best route to their destination. Routes colored blue indicate light traffic, orange indicates busy traffic, and red indicates congestion.

The service, which was made available to subscribers in late March, currently only covers 20 km around major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.

Use of Google Earth as navigational tools may be a trend the world will continue to see in the not-too-distant future. Recently, Volkswagen teamed up with Google and nVidia to create an in-car navigation system intended for release in the US market.

There is no word yet if a similar subscription service will be made available in Honda Civics in North America, unless it’s mentioned somewhere in this Google-translated press release that reads like an actual Japanese engineer wrote it – ask any ex-pat English teacher in Japan.

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… of car maker Volkswagen to provide them with a customized, private blog of news and analysis concerning a variety of technologies and trends that impact the automotive industry.

VW need to stay on top of all kinds of new technologies from around the world, Techdirt says, and are always looking for what’s happening in the technology world and how it may impact what they do today and in the future.

Techdirt’s solution provides Volkswagen with this:

Working with the ERL, Techdirt’s analysts developed a customized KnowledgeAnalyzer solution to meet the lab’s specific needs. Every week, Techdirt’s analysts scour thousands of information sources, monitoring trends as they develop in areas of importance to VW.

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Read the case study for the details including what VW says the benefits are.

Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.