WTF is up with VW?
Over the course of several months, Volkswagen has released a series of bizarre ads that leave me conflicted. I really like Volkswagen. My first non-crappy car was a Jetta … my Jetta … Jorgan … *flashback to a Ford F-150 slamming its way into my backseat … driver fleeing … saying good-bye to Jorgan in a lot filled with other broken and battered vehicles…* *sniff*
Uhm, so, anyway, VW. Ads. Oh yeah. The first bizarre series of ads that I saw were based upon the GTI. They came up with a cool, albeit rather creepy mascot called Fast. It’s a sleek little ball of evil that makes me laugh and shrink away all at once.
The second series of ads involved a psychotic German and his mannequin-like assistant “un-pimping” automobiles (which IS funny). Those of you familiar with the movie Fargo, however, will recognize this creepy German engineer as one of the villains. All I can think of is him grinding his companion in the wood chipper out back. *shudder* (I feel I must point out that Stormare is actually Swedish, not German. Go Sweden!) (Yes, I realize this is contradictory since I called him creepy, but I wanted to point it out simply because VW is passing him off as German. It’s more proof that Germans just really want to be Swedish.) Again, this series of ads leaves me feeling like I want to laugh and cry out of fear at the same time. I also find it ironic that while the tag line for this series is “German engineering in the house,” (said German ghetto, if there is such a thing) their cars are mostly assembled in Mexico, which saddens me greatly. (and could explain quite a few of the problems I had with my Jetta, even though I loved him.)
Most recently, VW has taken a more serious, yet equally disturbing, approach to their ads that are a complete 180 from the previous two campaigns. These new ads show people having normal conversations in a VW before a car slams into them without warning. The point is that they have a good front-impact rating, but really, it just makes me feel unsettled. Maybe it’s my previous trauma with my little Jorgan (although that was a rear impact), but I can’t see how shocking people with an accident will make them focus on the safety of the car.
I guess VW has achieved their goal, in that I’m thinking about them and their products, which makes me feel like a tool, but do their ads have to be so disturbing, yet intriguing? It makes me conflicted. Is this really a positive image for VW, or is it driving people away?
So, I am left with but one major thought: “Volkswagen!!!! WTF is up with your ads!!!???”
Popularity: 2% [?]
Since the Swede is playing a German, would it not be more accurate to note that Swedes want to be Germans, rather than the opposite?
Whatever helps you sleep at night, Dear.