Hey, it’s that thing from that other thing I saw a few months back on the TV.

by matt low

So Volkswagen has reached the point in its current campaign when it must stop simply selling brand and actually move product with its advertising. We see it all the time. Ford can’t simply tell you over and over again that its trucks are built Ford tough. No, the company must eventually tell you that its financing rates are also tough. Tough enough to walk into any Midwest bar and throw some disco on the jukebox. Who’s going to stop them? They’re that tough (meaning good).

The trick when moving from pure brand advertising to spots that move product is maintaining continuity between the two. In Volkswagen’s case, our friend the talking car with the awful German accent shows up for a brief moment and says something someone somewhere thought would be mildly funny being said by a car at the end of a car commercial.

Sigh.

This is my formal request to Volkswagen to please cease using that car with that voice in any capacity. I mean, they even have the thing on their website delivering clever little quips. Not amusing. Please stop.

As I’m sure they won’t until this campaign runs its course, my only hope is that the free credit report dot com kid needs a new car, discovers he still has bad credit, is forced to purchase this late model automobile, and immediately crashes into a wall. The car screaming in agony. The young man singing a silly song about how his fiery death is due to his ignorance concerning his poor credit. Splendid.