The Times of India cruised into Indian advertising history on November 11 when it featured Volkswagen ads — showcasing a range of the German carmaker’s brands, from Beetle to Touareg — cover-to-cover and blockading other advertisers.

Before that, a campaign of that nature, referred to as ‘roadblock’ in advertising parlance, had never been carried out in the country’s print media. All editions of the Times of India carried the roadblock.

Divya Gururaj, the managing director of Mediacom, which put up India’s first print roadblock, has told the media the campaign cleared the way for unprecedented consumer interest. She said that although

the Phyan scare had annexed media attention on November 11, Google Hot Trends revealed that Volkswagen was the most searched word that day. Lutz Kothe, the chief general manager, marketing & PR, Volkswagen Group Sales India, is said to be immensely pleased with the response.

Hindustan Unilever, Nokia, and Vodafone have set up roadblocks on television channels and websites in India.