The eBay Index. It works like this: Create an advertisement that features some otherwise worthless tchotchke that’s identified with your brand. Limit said trinket’s availability.

Watch and see what kind of price the thing can ring up on eBay.

The results can be astonishing. Witness the price that the VW GTI’s goofy gremlin, The VW Fast, is currently commanding on eBay. The gadget, a demonic-looking plastic toy that’s a little bigger than Mr. Potato Head and has removable tails, but otherwise does nothing, is listed right now for $510. Given that this thing wouldn’t sell for more than, say, $10 at Toys ‘R’ Us, the remaining $500 is strictly a measure of the buzz — and desirability — generated by the product’s advertising created, in this case, by the hot Miami ad shop, Crispin Porter Bogusky.

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