Audi makes beautiful cars, but there's world of difference between automotive prowess social performance – as a recent romp on Instagram demonstrated.

Magic moments

Earlier this year Audi launched the #PaidMyDues campaign, which promoted its A3 sedan by asking fans to tweet, Instagram or post a Vine showing how they'd triumphed over adversity.

The most inspiring stories would be reinterpreted by artists who would create a work that would be auctioned on eBay for charity.

So far, so good.

Photo bomb

However Audi fans soon saw their Instagram feeds being clogged with images of artists creating their #PaidMyDues work, and not many found the feed inspirational. 

Some choice messages from fans included:

“Your online brand manager needs a talking to. This is such crap.”

“Um, I like your cars….but these people look like weirdos. Can we get some cars?”

“Caaaaaaars please…what the f*ck man.”

“I WANT CARS.”

Don't rock the boat

While #PaidMyDues wasn't a bad idea, Audi didn't seem to realise that its Instagram fans signed up for photos of fast cars, not canvasses.

It's always good to innovate but at the end of the day brands must be aware of what their fans want, or risk rocking the boat (or car) at their peril. 

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