Volkswagen's The Force

Gustavo Gamba
Simone Martell

19 April 20, 2012

Volkswagen’s The Force
Volkswagen has built a reputation for smart and innovative advertising. Ever since the early days of the “Think Small”ads in the 1950s when the only Volkswagen around was the Volkswagen Beetle, the company has distinguished itself with its inventive and clever ads, which have been repeatedly imitated.
Volkswagen’scommercial The Force, which debuted a few days before Super Bowl, 2011, follows a young boy, about 5 years old and dressed in a Darth Vader costume, as he fruitlessly tries to “use the force” to moverandom objects around his house. As the commercial goes on, even though an oversized helmet covers his face, we can see the boy’s growing frustration reflected in his body language. The boy’s fatherarrives home in his 2012 Volkswagen Passat, and the boy runs past him in the driveway and stops in front of the car. The background music turns more suspenseful as the boy concentrates and points at thecar. Unexpectedly, the car starts on its own causing the child to jump back surprised. The commercial ends with a cut to the boy’s parents looking at the miniature Vader through the kitchen window, asthe father holds the car keys in his hand, letting the audience know about the optional remote starter for the 2012 Passat model. The Force can be seen on Volkswagen’s YouTube page athttp://bit.ly/e0j2z3.
Over the past years, Volkswagen has become the hipper, somewhat more affordable version of the German import. The Passat is Volkswagen’s full size family sedan. The target of this commercialis the middle to upper middle class, most likely college educated family. This is evidenced by their large home in a nice suburban street, the expensive, dark hardwood floors throughout the house, andthe contemporary European furniture (this is definitely not make-it-yourself furniture from IKEA). This is a family used to quality products and price is not necessarily the priority when it comes...