That 'A' pillar application seems like one that can work. (Without too much of a drag cost).
After reading about this stuff and looking at the sim pics, it seems like a tape with a saw-tooth edge on the leading side would work too.
The VGs here look like little air foils placed at an off-angle to the wind. (bottom third of the page).
Each of these air foils looks to be making a CW vortex. Thinking about ZZ tape's CW & CCW vortexi stacked shoulder to shoulder.. Like compressed streams that are rotating in opposite directions.
I have to wonder why they aren't canceling each other out?