For this project I picked a commercial that won the fans approval. This commercial first aired during the Super Bowl in 2011, The Force: Volkswagen Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0. It was highly talked about in the media for some time after it aired. This commercial did not focus on the car at all though. Volkswagen instead, decided to focus on a kid wearing a Darth Vader costume. Come to think of it they did show one thing, the automatic start button at the very end, and that is what made the commercial great. Instead of showing how fast their car is or what it could do, Volkswagen instead decided to show it as a family car.
They accomplished this act very well by instead of having the car as the main character of the commercial; it was the small child who was wearing the costume. Of course the music choice was that of “Star Wars” to keep in theme with the whole thing. The commercial showed the child playing in costume trying to use “the force” and failing at every try. Only at the end did the vehicle that Volkswagen was trying to advertise even showed up in the commercial after the child’s dad arrived home. This is where the commercial actually showed its product. The last few seconds of the commercial is the only few that mattered. Showing the child’s story, and playing around got people’s attention, because there was nothing being sold, and at the last second they show you in a way that keeps with the story and allowing the child to achieve what he could not do otherwise, use the force.
They accomplished this act very well by instead of having the car as the main character of the commercial; it was the small child who was wearing the costume. Of course the music choice was that of “Star Wars” to keep in theme with the whole thing. The commercial showed the child playing in costume trying to use “the force” and failing at every try. Only at the end did the vehicle that Volkswagen was trying to advertise even showed up in the commercial after the child’s dad arrived home. This is where the commercial actually showed its product. The last few seconds of the commercial is the only few that mattered. Showing the child’s story, and playing around got people’s attention, because there was nothing being sold, and at the last second they show you in a way that keeps with the story and allowing the child to achieve what he could not do otherwise, use the force.
I would say that somebody has finally been listening to the people finally, or at least Jeff Jarvis. This is exactly what he described in his book “What Would Google Do?” you don’t try to force your product to the masses or even try to tell them why to try your product. If you have something new, just tell the people what is new or show them. This is exactly what Volkswagen did when they made this commercial. They didn’t try to tell us that we needed their product or tell us why theirs is better than any other automobile. They just showed us what was new while they told us a very cute story. In my opinion it was almost product placement in a short movie rather than an actual commercial.
The fact that they picked a Super Bowel spot to first show this commercial shows that they believe not only in their product but the intelligence of their customer. In addition they got even more media afterwards than they did during the first initial airing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyJUshK35o0. This commercial even prompted news coverage about how media is changing and how commercials and companies like Volkswagen are changing with it. Commercials that are cheaper to make seem to have more of an effect than the expensive high tech commercials, show that it is not what they show us it is how they show us. They were tuned into what people were saying what they want, they want to be informed and entertained, not told what to do, and was talked about in many blogs as well http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/05/congratulations-to-volkswagens-commercial-the-force/. Media is changing, and the companies that change with it are sure to survive while others will fade away.
The fact that they picked a Super Bowel spot to first show this commercial shows that they believe not only in their product but the intelligence of their customer. In addition they got even more media afterwards than they did during the first initial airing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyJUshK35o0. This commercial even prompted news coverage about how media is changing and how commercials and companies like Volkswagen are changing with it. Commercials that are cheaper to make seem to have more of an effect than the expensive high tech commercials, show that it is not what they show us it is how they show us. They were tuned into what people were saying what they want, they want to be informed and entertained, not told what to do, and was talked about in many blogs as well http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/05/congratulations-to-volkswagens-commercial-the-force/. Media is changing, and the companies that change with it are sure to survive while others will fade away.
