Volkswagen: “The Force”
A tiny Darth Vader tries to use the Force on everything in the house, until a Volkswagen Passat seems to answer.
- Brand
- Volkswagen
- Year
- 2011
- Agency
- Deutsch LA
- Category
- Cars
A small boy in a full Darth Vader costume marches through his house to the Imperial March, stretching out his hands at the exercise bike, the washing machine, the family dog and a doll on his sister's bed. Nothing moves. Then his father comes home and parks a new Volkswagen Passat in the driveway. The boy tries one last time, the headlights flash and the engine starts. He jumps back in shock. Inside the kitchen, his dad is holding the remote key.
The spot was made for the 2011 Super Bowl, but Volkswagen did something unusual for the time: it released the full version on YouTube several days before the game. By kick-off it had already been watched millions of times, and it went on to become one of the most-shared Super Bowl ads ever. Many later brands copied that idea of launching the big-game ad early online.
What makes it work is that the product only arrives at the very end, and only as the punchline. The whole minute is about a child's imagination, a feeling almost every parent recognises. The car simply gets to be the hero of the last five seconds, which is exactly why viewers in our game rarely guess the brand until the very end.
Watch the full ad on YouTube
Could you recognise it with the logo hidden? This ad is one of 129 famous commercials in Guess the Ad.
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