Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Carwow, the online car marketplace, is encouraging motorists to break up with their vehicles and consider new single cars in their area.

The light-hearted campaign launched on the 7th of February to coincide with Valentine’s Day. It pokes fun at the romantic holiday through punchy, breakup-related copy. Urging car-owners to explore the 'single cars in their area', the campaign plays with copy associated with dating, to capture the attention of passersby. From the allure of moving on to something better, to recognising that people evolve and grow apart, the campaign encourages motorists to think about their next car.

While the campaign cheekily refers to break-ups ahead of the day of love, it is actually rooted in consumer research. Carwow found that over one third (38%) of motorists sell to upgrade to a bigger or better car that suits their changing needs and lifestyle requirements. Another quarter (25%) sell because they no longer need it.

Yet, as with break ups, many motorists are nervous to move on. The research shows that 40% of drivers worry they won’t get a fair price when selling their current car and, shockingly, nearly half (47%) find selling their old car stressful.

“For many motorists, selling a car has been an emotional, angst-ridden process; much like a break-up,” says Ben Carter, CMO at Carwow. “At Carwow we’ve already helped over 2.5m people change their cars (whether that be selling or buying) so what better place to reassure customers that changing cars is [...] easy.”

The campaign is the first following the company’s rebrand in December. The campaign will run across digital and social media channels first, including Meta, YouTube and PMax, before landing out-of-home, across transport and tube stations over the country.

Challenging perceptions of the automotive category, the campaign pokes fun at Valentine’s Day. It capitalises on the cultural moment to creatively encourage customers to consider moving on from their vehicles.