vw

January 25, 2003 6:50 PM

The Sun is Shining in the Sky. Music video as advertising, to great effect.
posted by the fire you left me (41 comments total)

It's advertising day on metafilter! C'mon, someone please post the Budweiser "Wazzup" ad. Or maybe that Nike one with the streaker...
posted by dazed_one at 6:56 PM on January 25, 2003

All this advertising has made me thirsty... if only there were a refreshing, berry-flavored beverage available to quench my thirst...
posted by 4easypayments at 7:06 PM on January 25, 2003

Anyone know where they filmed that commercial? Every time I've seen it -- and for a while it shown in movie theaters around here -- all I could concentrate on was where they filmed the ad.

Anyhoo: My refrigerator looks like the character's refrigerator. Maybe a new car will help me to find meaning.
posted by subgenius at 7:10 PM on January 25, 2003

I am surprised they picked that song....I mean...since it grew on me when I was younger and drove me to buy that album ( Out of the Blue ) way back in the 70's when I was a wee lad.

I saw the commercial and was freaked out -- " No one is supposed to use THAT song for an ad! "
posted by RubberHen at 7:16 PM on January 25, 2003

Heard the song for the first time ever in the movie theatre. For about 3 weeks, I had it on repeat in Winamp. Drove the roommate batty.
posted by gramcracker at 7:21 PM on January 25, 2003

With the timecube split screen, won't he have to buy 4 simultaneous VW Beetle Convertibles?
posted by machaus at 7:33 PM on January 25, 2003

For about 3 weeks, I had it on repeat... Drove the roommate batty
I did almost the same thing. About 25 years ago. (but it was parents going batty)
posted by dchase at 9:53 PM on January 25, 2003

This is easily the best piece of advertising that I have seen in the last 10 years.

Ever since it first went on the air, I get antsy every commercial break hoping it will come up. Several weeks ago I looked up the production company and send them an e-mail telling them just how marvelous I thought it was.

It's different, so very different, than what we normally get fed in advertising today. It's 60 seconds, it's talk-free, it's almost product free, it's celebrity free, it's bullshit free.

There is some real art in that ad if you will just observe it. But of course many of you will say it's just a commercial and not worth watching and total garbage yadda yadda.

Now, it won't increase my likelihood of buying a Beetle Convertible, but that doesn't detract from its artistic merit.

It is much more art than advertising. It's an entire story in 60 seconds. It is poetry for the eyes, or something. The music conveys an extraordinary message.

Mister Blue Sky, please tell us why, you had to hide away for so long.

If more advertising was this good, then more people would watch advertising.
posted by Ynoxas at 10:02 PM on January 25, 2003

OK. Previous FPP about advertising here. One comment on said FPP was:

Thanks hama7. Post another one tomorrow from Gap. Hey, if your not busy, I'd love to see some more advertising for a GM SUV. Maybe if I buy enough, I'll be happy. You can only help, hama7.
posted by the fire you left me at 4:32 PM PST on January 25

Now we have this FPP, posted by the same user who made the above comment. Assuming the comment was chock full of sarcasm, why turn around and post a link similar to the one you mocked? Color me confused...
posted by thatweirdguy2 at 10:02 PM on January 25, 2003

It's nice, I think, advertisement or otherwise. The building he looks out of and away from is especially moving for me.
posted by plexi at 10:13 PM on January 25, 2003

I dunno about artistic. When I first saw it I thought it was a trailer for a movie I probably would never see. And while it does a good job making the point that working life is repetitive (something that's certainly not new ground), all it does, ultimately, is offer a product as the key to happiness.

It's a great commercial though, the above being said.
posted by Hildago at 10:51 PM on January 25, 2003

it's bullshit free

i fail to see how it's bullshit free. looked like total bullshit to me: it's equating the new convertible bug with perfect weather, hopeful days, and future love. what could be more bullshit? (yeah, it's a nice enough commercial--certainly "better" than most--but hardly void of b.s.)

and, since this thread's about ads, here's mine: for those who liked the music in this commercial, you might want to check out this beautifully crafted pop album (which, for legal reasons, was rereleased as this).
posted by dobbs at 10:57 PM on January 25, 2003

i thought the office life seemed a lot cooler than that corny car.

ooooh working in a cubicle slowly kills you blah blah blah! whatever. he had some damn nice ties. and the architecture...
posted by luckyclone at 11:01 PM on January 25, 2003

subgenius: I'm curious too. I think it's the Bay Area--you can see what looks to me like the Bay Bridge clearly in these big stills.

(bigger ones here)
posted by tss at 11:02 PM on January 25, 2003

San Francisco. tss: compare the pink rootop; lower left, here with the same building; middle left, here, different angle.
posted by hama7 at 12:33 AM on January 26, 2003

Ynoxas, if if "it won't increase (your) likelihood of buying a Beetle Convertible", then it can't really be "easily the best piece of advertising that (you) have seen in the last 10 years." It might be your favorite, or the most artistic, or your most watched, but the best piece of advertising, technically, is the one that influenced your purchase decision the most. Probably one that you didn't even take notice of, or at most found mildly irritating (but not irritating enough to get you to boycott the product/company doing the advertising).
posted by jonson at 12:39 AM on January 26, 2003

I saw the commercial and was freaked out -- " No one is supposed to use THAT song for an ad! "

Nothing, nothing in this world can ever compare to using Led Zeppelin to advertise a Cadillac SUV. When I saw that one, I concluded that the world really did end with the millennium and I now inhabit some unbelievably twisted "Left Behind" quasi-reality.

And what is with seemingly the entire backlist of The Who being used either in ads or in television program theme music? Did all the songs get picked up at auction as a job lot? Jesus, the overture from Tommy for a goddamn allergy medicine?
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:44 AM on January 26, 2003

There've been several long and passionate discussions about this topic in the not-too-recent past here on MeFi, but I'm damned if I can find them.

If the fire you left me was making a sarcastic point by posting this thread, I salute him/her (even if it's counter to the spirit of guidelines), but it's clear that subtleties of that sort are not going to meet with much success 'round here these days.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:52 AM on January 26, 2003

it were all different when i were a lad ...these users dont know theyre bloody born nowadays...we had to send our comments in by bloody pigeon post we did .
There was only one bloody pigeon n'all... we had to wait weeks for it to get sent out to us..
anyone fancy posting the hovis ad ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:53 AM on January 26, 2003

all in all, a gentle yet excellent slap in the face of the overlord, who deleted a passel of critical commentary in the other ad thread because he wanted to post in it himself.
posted by quonsar at 7:17 AM on January 26, 2003

Uh...yeah...I do believe that is the subtle aroma of "spite" that I smell in this post. ;)
posted by jaronson at 7:48 AM on January 26, 2003

sgt - you must have had a of pigeons!!
posted by jonson at 9:53 AM on January 26, 2003

sorry - make that "a LOT of pigeons"
posted by jonson at 9:53 AM on January 26, 2003

hence my photo.
posted by sgt.serenity at 10:09 AM on January 26, 2003

Shoot location: indeed it was downtown SF. Much of the filming (the escalator, the cube farm, for example) were done in my fiance's office building (101 2nd St.). The cube farm used the now-deserted Arthur Anderson offices. The inter-building walkway is around the corner from there, closer to 1st St. She was very excited when the featured actor winked at her during a break.
posted by billsaysthis at 10:19 AM on January 26, 2003

good article about this ad (read it in slate a couple of weeks ago)
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 11:15 AM on January 26, 2003

Ynoxas, if if "it won't increase (your) likelihood of buying a Beetle Convertible", then it can't really be "easily the best piece of advertising that (you) have seen in the last 10 years."

That's not true. I can easily judge a tampon ad to be the best ad ever created. In fact I could even point to sales data in this hypothetical situation to support my assertion, but the likelihood of me ever buying a tampon (or at least having any input into which brand I buy) is just about zero. Just because I'm not in an ad's target demographic doesn't mean I can't make an informed decision about it.

And, the goal of the VW ad seems to be one of branding more than selling. They want to introduce a new model and make me feel a certain way about the line in general and that model in particular. It can succeed at doing that without impacting sales at all. Sales can be handled by another message/channel later in the marketing process.

Does it meet its branding objectives? Well, I'm probably just on the outside of the demographic segment they're targeting, so I'm probably not the one they'd look to to determine success. Also, while I have seen the ad once or twice before, they probably didn't get the frequency with me that they'd be looking for with their audience.

All that said, while I remember the ad, and enjoyed the ad, I didn't remember that the ad was for a car much less for a VW convertible. So does it work? Well, it will probably win awards, and it will make some agency/creative director's reel, but if I was the buyer I might have some questions since a nice ad on some agency's reel probably wasn't my goal for the campaign.
posted by willnot at 12:01 PM on January 26, 2003

Willnot - agree with everything you're saying; still maintain that the BEST piece of advertising over the past decade would probably not be a branding piece, but one that simultaneously branded while moving the sales needle... Dunno, maybe that's just the direct marketer in me (booooo!)
posted by jonson at 12:19 PM on January 26, 2003

face it, car ads have a much better playlist than the radio. I'm just now getting used to it (Volkswagen usually impresses me)...
posted by kevspace at 1:23 PM on January 26, 2003

If the fire you left me was making a sarcastic point by posting this thread, I salute him/her (even if it's counter to the spirit of guidelines), but it's clear that subtleties of that sort are not going to meet with much success 'round here these days.

I think most people who saw the other thread got the motivation behind posting this, it's just a question of whether it was a good idea to do it...

... which is in the domain of a metatalk discussion anyway, so I'll shut my mouth.
posted by Hildago at 4:14 PM on January 26, 2003

What a pathetic ad. Are people really so film illiterate that a series of rapid cuts over a bouncy pop song count as amazing art? Yeesh.

From the Slate article:

on some level there's something depressing about a material object as the only source of meaning in life

Um, is there a level on which there's *not* something depressing about a material object as the only source of meaning in life? Oh, well, at least VW isn't insulting the entire human race with a tagline like "Driving = Love." Someone please remind me what company uses that one so I can be sure to never buy anything from them ever again.
posted by mediareport at 11:13 PM on January 26, 2003

Jonson: I'm going to file that under "you know what I mean" and leave it at that.

Dobbs: By bullshit free I meant it wasn't another commercial telling you how it will run 500k miles without a tuneup or how it has the best warranty/gas mileage/crash worthiness/etc in the business. It wasn't trying to sell me on valves or cams or crumple zones or cupholders or shift levers.

More importantly, it doesn't *have to*. A Beetle Convertible always was a "different" kind of car. It still is.

It didn't sell the machine with a bunch of supporting crap, it was trying to sell the idea, which is both much harder and much easier at the same time.

To me the ad is saying:

"There used to be these things called Beetle Convertibles. You probably thought they were cool. You probably said 'I'm gonna get one of those someday'. Then they quit making them. Then you grew up. Then you got a job. You drive a Honda like everyone else. You dress like everyone else. So much easier this way. Wait... they are making them again?"

Mediareport: easy big fella... it's an awful long way down from that high horse you've put yourself on.

I like it, and I could give a Tinker's Cuss about whether you think it's "amazing art" or not.

What, you come in here and declare it crap, so everyone is suddenly supposed to snap out of it and say "oh yeah it is crap, why didn't I see it before?"

"There is some real art in that ad if you will just observe it. But of course many of you will say it's just a commercial and not worth watching and total garbage yadda yadda."

Wow I must be like psychic or something.
posted by Ynoxas at 2:39 PM on January 27, 2003

What, you come in here and declare it crap, so everyone is suddenly supposed to snap out of it and say "oh yeah it is crap, why didn't I see it before?"

Oh, please. I speak for myself; if you disagree that's your problem/right. The ad's derivative as hell, with a thin veneer of hipness added by the timing of the edits. It's pleasant and happy enough (er, except for the sad, empty message which is its entire purpose) but there's no way it deserved a front page post, even if it was intended as a snide attack on that equally lame Nike ad post.
posted by mediareport at 5:20 PM on January 27, 2003

What a pathetic ad. Are people really so film illiterate that a series of rapid cuts over a bouncy pop song count as amazing art?

I have no axe to grind with you, but that was not "speaking for yourself" and you know it. That was a purposeful indictment and insult to anyone who is so "illiterate" as to consider it good. You were bloviating from on high, I just called you on it.

If you disagree that's your problem/right.

Something doesn't have to be "high art" for it to be of high quality and enjoyable. I don't think anyone here was trying to say it was the epitome of 21st century western art. I in particular said it was the best COMMERCIAL I've seen in 10 years. That's much different than saying it's the best ART I've seen in 10 years.

And just so that there's some discussion, please show me some examples of what it's derivative of? Maybe I just don't watch enough television, but I don't remember very many commercials that had this particular approach. In fact, I can't think of a single commercial off the top of my head that showed this repetition and monotony and simultaneity, unless you consider those "Time to make the donuts" commercials of the 80's, and surely even you can see the difference.

It's a well done piece by any definition. When people go out of their way to piss on quality material it smacks of jealousy.
posted by Ynoxas at 5:52 PM on January 27, 2003

Even if I granted that it was "a well-done piece," Ynoxas - de gustibus and all that - it wouldn't excuse the thinness of the post. Linking to a major new ad campaign for the world's most-sold car from one of the world's most famous companies hardly seems like a smart use of a place like MeFi. But that's just me. I'd rather see folks link to things that are infinitely cooler - and much less readily available to anyone with a TV set, like Cornelius' "I Hate Hate" video.

A multi-million-dollar ad campaign that tells you modern industry will save you from the drudgery of modern industry? Oh boy. A company rad enough to blur out a penis on TV? Woo hoo. Spread them far and wide.

Meanwhile, at the bat cave, Robin has dug up some interesting tidbits, including info about Volkswagen's cool history of forced labour and its totally awesome unwillingness to mention Hitler in its official history.

Revisionist, soul-sucking advertisers rule ok!
posted by mediareport at 7:03 PM on January 27, 2003

Oh, so now it's no good because they are bad people. Gotcha. *nudge*

As I posted above, my compliments went out to the production company that did it. Volkswagon only paid for it.

The "worthiness" of the post is a separate idea entirely and I've already said my peace about that elsewhere.
posted by Ynoxas at 7:39 PM on January 27, 2003

If you're accusing me of saying MeFi should be my personal "sandbox," well, all I can say in response is fuck off. I've said nothing of the sort. Despite your weak attempt to imply otherwise, asking, "Are people really so film illiterate that a series of rapid cuts over a bouncy pop song count as amazing art?" is definitely speaking for no one but myself. The migration of techniques used by smart filmmakers for years into the inherently conservative world of corporate advertising is hardly occasion for celebration.

Hell, it's hardly worth noting at all.
posted by mediareport at 7:49 PM on January 27, 2003

I cannot believe how vehemently angry some people become because an inch and a half of text on one of their browser windows doesn't meet with their approval. It's funny, and sad.
posted by Ynoxas at 10:41 PM on January 27, 2003

Way to avoid the point, Ynoxas.
posted by mediareport at 10:58 PM on January 27, 2003

"It's pleasant and happy enough.. but there's no way it deserved a front page post."

"I've said nothing of the sort."

Actually I believe you did. I found the ad to be refreshing compared to what usually comes out of the advertising industry. (Cat fight for example..)
posted by thirdball at 1:14 PM on January 29, 2003

thirdball, sharing the opinion about the front page - an opinion that anyone is free to ignore - isn't the same thing as treating MeFi as a personal sandbox. There's no control here, just thoughts expressed in electronic form.

I found the ad to be refreshing compared to what usually comes out of the advertising industry.

I'm happy for you. So every cool song I hear on college radio - refreshing compared to what usually comes out of the music industry - is now worthy of a post?
posted by mediareport at 2:30 PM on January 29, 2003