Discovery’s annual Shark Week extravaganza not only confirms that viewers go crazy for underwater creatures that can rip them into a thousand pieces, but that brands will use just about any tangential connection to a popular theme to try and wring out that extra dollar. Take the fat, colorful Tide billboard above the Lincoln Tunnel that I came across yesterday: “We get the blood out, too.” That’s one way to do it.

Volkswagen and Deutsch are going all in as well, bringing cars and sharks a lot closer than they’ve ever been before, a true sharknado of brand association if there ever was one. The VW campaign is loaded on social media, mainly focusing on sharable videos through Instagram and Vine. VW created a Beetle convertible that will be used as an underwater cage hooked up to cameras for the remainder of the week, hoping to conquer a chunk of the digital space floating around with these exclusive videos. Credits after the jump.

Client Credits:

• EVP, Chief Product & Marketing Officer: Wayne Brannon
• VP, Marketing: Kevin Mayer
• GM, Marketing Communications: Justin Osborne
• Advertising Manager: Jeff Sayen
• Media and Innovation Manager: Jennifer Clayton
• Advertising Specialist: Chanel Arola

Deutsch Creative Credits and Titles:

• Group Creative Director: Michael Kadin
• Group Creative Director: Matt Ian
• Group Creative Director: David Kim
• Associate Creative Director: Scott Clark
• Senior Art Director: Mike Blanch
• Director of Integrated Production: Vic Palumbo
• Director of Content Production: Victoria Guenier
• Executive Integrated Producer: Jim Haight
• Instagram/Vine Social Video Producer: Jesse Ferguson

Additional Deutsch Credits:

• Chief Executive Officer: Mike Sheldon

Account Management Credits:

• Group Account Director: Tom Else
• Account Director: Monica Jungbeck
• Account Supervisor: Alex Gross
• Account Executive: Tara Poosti
• Assistant Account Executive: Mary Cherwien
• Digital Account Director: Amy Wiedemann
• Digital Account Supervisor: Audrey Jersin
• Digital Account Executive: Ben Ortega
• Digital Assistant Account Executive: Ashley Su

Discovery

• VP Creative, Broadcast Content: Mary Clare Baquet
• EVP/Discovery AD Sales:  Scott Felenstein
• SVP/Discover AD Sales: Harold Morgenstern
• VP/Discovery AD Sales: Lauren Gastwirth
• VP/AD Sales Marketing: Judy Choe  
• Director/AD Sales Marketing: Mark Lewis
• Account Executive: Stacy Tobin
• Account Executive: Jin Chon
• Director/Digital Marketing: Julia Benedict
• Executive Producer: Matt Katzive
• Executive Producer: Mary Claire Baquet
• Producer: Gina Scarpulla
• SVP Branded Entertainment: Michelle Theissen