Commercial Critique #2 - The Force

Volkswagen - The Force

I loved this ad when it first came out. At the festival they talked about it being a great example of viral advertising, and that’s exactly how it reached me. A friend of mine emailed it to me before I ever saw it on TV and I got a big kick out of it at the time. I love Star Wars so critiquing this ad was kind of a no-brainer for me. What I really like about this ad is how it blends several humanistic elements so well. It’s an argument for believing in magic. Well, let me moderate that statement – it’s an argument for why you should buy a new Passat, but it manages to make you feel so hopeful. This kid’s dejection and exasperation is familiar to anyone who’s ever been a kid. It reminded me of this trick my parents used to play on me when I was little: when they’d see the crosswalk light change from Don’t Walk to Walk, they’d tell me to ask the red light to turn green, and as soon as I asked, the light would turn. For years I genuinely thought I was the master of the traffic lights. This commercial is great because you can just imagine how excited the kid is to think he’s mastered the Force.

Another thing I love about this ad is the way the parents behave. When I first watched it I remember thinking, “Wow, what good parents.” You’re touched by the knowing eyebrow-raise the dad gives as he hits the start button. These are clearly two people dedicated to letting their kids have dreams, and you admire them for it. Volkswagen is really good at making their drivers seem like cool people. Another example of this is the Jetta campaign from a few years ago where all the ads were about the way people stereotype Jetta drivers. I drive a Jetta now and those ads always make me feel proud to drive my car – like I’m part of the cool club. That’s exactly how Volkswagen wants me to feel. They’re a lot like Apple, in that even though I know they’re just pulling advertising tricks on me, the tricks work. I love my Volkswagen even though stuff breaks in it all the time and I’m a loyal Apple customer, in part because their ads have always stuck with me so well.

This commercial does a good job highlighting the car itself in subtle ways, too. That shot where you’re looking outside at the kid from the inside of the car shows off the dashboard wonderfully, but it seems natural because it transitions into that shot in the same way all the different scenes have been transitioning into each other. We don’t even notice that this particular change of viewpoint is showing us the car’s interior. Also, the commercial does a really great job mimicking Star Wars itself. The scene where the kid is walking down the hallway with his Vader cloak whipping around his heels is dead-on. Overall this is just great advertising: it’s funny, intelligent and cute. And it doesn’t hurt to play on such a huge cultural phenomenon like Star Wars – that’s exactly what makes a viral video go viral.