Last week I started seeing a pair of Volkswagen commercials that really jarred me. They start off with people in the car discussing some inane topic, which makes it seem like any other stupid car commercial. Then, out of nowhere, there’s a huge crash and the car is hit in the side by a larger vehicle.
Cut to a few minutes later, everybody’s out of the car, crying and shaken up, but OK.
I guess the commercial’s supposed to show you how save the VW is. Whether it really achieves that, I don’t really think so, but it certain does make you pay attention. The cuts are just right, where you catch a glimpse of the oncoming SUV just a split second before impact. There’s even a quick flash from inside the car of the people’s bodies reacting to the crash. It’s effective in that sense.
But I couldn’t help coming away from the commercial feeling like, “Gee… a bit much?” And they will certainly lose their effectiveness with repeated viewings. Yet, here I am, talking about them.
Anyone else catch these jarring ads yet? What was your reaction?
Posted in Consumer Commentary
Jammin October 4, 2006, 4:42 pm
yea… saw these commercials… very disturbing… I don’t think they will help VW improve sales… their ad campaigns have been lacking this past year… they need to go back to their roots…
nice blog though.