Photo via trepelu/Flickr.

Photo via trepelu/Flickr.

In Paris, Europcar and toy company Mattel have partnered together to create the “First Rental Car Agency for Kids” by renting Hot Wheels.

Children get to choose which Hot Wheels vehicles they want to rent from an in-store catalog or by pre-booking online. And the process even comes with a rental contract and late-return penalties.

The idea was developed by Ogilvy Paris, the agency that manages both Europcar and Mattel’s accounts. “Mattel and Europcar are two Ogilvy clients that have some creative and account leadership staffing overlap,” said Patrick Sullivan, creative director of Ogilvy Paris. “One hallway conversation led to another.”

The Hot Wheels rental counters were set up in six Europcar locations in France. So far, it has been well-received by kids and parents. The in-store engagement times for kids were between 12 and 24 minutes, says Sullivan. By looking at which cars are returned and which ones are kept, this campaign has helped to see which Hot Wheels cars are most popular.

This idea will likely be expanded to other locations. “We’re all really excited to push the next evolution of this idea even further,” said Sullivan. “Make it bigger, roll it out to more markets in the European Union.”

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