MINI: fake is the new real

MINI is a cool brand, which invests a lot in presenting itself associated to lifestyle, art, innovation and music. I admire the way they communicate and the moderate bravery of their web efforts. A few weeks we saw the Hammer & Coop idea (a sort of parody on Knight Rider meeting Starsky & Hutch), now from Germany, Markus tells me about Def Mini Records, a virtual (fake) record label launched by the agencies Interone Worldwide and .start.

The site hasn’t got any reference to MINI (just the name of the label) but features a series of emerging (?!) bands who don’t sing about peace, love or life, but simply sing to celebrate the new MINI: it’s reliable, it’s safe, it’s fun to drive. Discover the new stars Runflat and The Disc Brakes, and meet the Terence Trust.

It’s all fake, you might like it or not, but it’s brave. Personally I think I should know more about the project to express an evaluation. I have to judge only from what I see on the Web, and with these elements I must say I find it quite pointless, nice to watch once, but not really worth enough attention to generate word of mouth. It would be interesting to know if there’s any offline communication around it. I’ve noticed a banner from MTV, if they use the same concept on TV as well, than it’s another story.