AudiWorld Forums - Elvis Like Doll in Audi Commericial

anyone heard about this !!!!

BERLIN: An Elvis-like gyrating pelvis is causing a cult sensation in Germany after a carmaker's commercial made the dashboard ornament an object of desire for thousands.

Audi hoped to extol the virtues of its new automatic transmission in the TV ad, which has an Audi driver picking up an Elvis impersonator whose car has broken down. The impersonator puts the doll on the dashboard, and the gimmick is that the car shifts so smoothly the Elvis ornament doesn't even dance.

Sure enough, inquiries started pouring into Audi offices - not about the transmission, but about where to buy the toy.

Demand has grown so large since the ads first aired a few months ago that Audi decided to start selling the ornaments for 8 euros ($15.65). The company has already received 150,000 orders as of this week, and it expects the number to top 200,000.

"Naturally we didn't expect it. It was a big surprise," said Audi spokesman Joachim Cordshagen from the company's headquarters in Ingolstadt. "This puppet has reached a cult status."

Audi stresses that the ornament isn't supposed to be Elvis, but only representative of the "rock and roll times."

No matter. Last Wednesday, hundreds lined up at the Audi shop in Ingolstadt after a shipment arrived. The 2,000 ornaments on offer sold out in 90 minutes after hitting the shelves.

The company has even set up a telephone hotline to take orders -but because of the high demand is limiting customers to 10 each. (AP)