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Leaking early, the new Volkswagen 2012 Super Bowl XLVI TV commercial has been released, and builds on the canine theme featured in ‘The Bark Side’ teaser spot, which we previewed earlier in the week. ‘The Dog Strikes Back’ features an overweight pooch called Bolt, who undertakes lots of doggy exercises to get fit so that he can chase the German company’s new Beetle. That’s all very cute, but where does the Star Wars link make itself known? Well, we won’t spoil it here, but there is a galaxy far far away-tinged ending, keeping the running theme from last year’s ‘The Force’ film. An edited 60-second version of this 76-second clip will air during the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday 5 February. Will VW keep the same theme for 2013?

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Buoyed by the 2011 success of its Star Wars-themed ‘The Force’ advert (Adweek’s ‘Commercial of the Year 2011’, 44 million YouTube views, 6.8 billion impressions), Volkswagen is again going intergalactic for its 2012 Super Bowl XLVI TV commercial. Called the ‘Bark Side’, this 64-second teaser previews the full advert which will air on 5 February. Featuring a collective of canines (some ‘dressed’ as notable characters from the series’ titles) barking the ‘Imperial March’ from the film’s soundtrack, it’s looking like it will cause as much of a sensation as last year’s US Darth Vader-themed clip.

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The fifth-generation Polo-based Vento saloon has been on sale in India since summer last year, and both it and the Polo are doing great things for Volkswagen in the country. This 60-second TV spot for the car focuses on the emotional attachment the Volkswagen workers have to the car, because of their ‘craftmanship’ that goes into making it. Reminding us of the ‘Full of lovely stuff‘ cake-themed commercial for the Škoda Fabia, this one’s a little less cute, but it gets the message across. Of course, the Vento is no more ‘crafted’ than any other mass-produced car, but the handsome Polo-derived shape and mini-Jetta looks endow it with a certain appeal. The Vento is available with four doors, and in Trendline and Highline guises, powered by Volkswagen’s latest 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engines. Prices start at Rs 6,99,00, and a special ‘IPL Edition’ cricket-themed model is also available with an added kit count.

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Following a theme Volkswagen UK promoted for advertising the Lupo back in the early 2000s, this 30-second TV commercial for Volkswagen Australia uses the ‘Volkswagen, Condensed’ strapline to push the Polo. With two Aussie guys effortlessly condensing all their chatter about the car into such a small timeframe, it certainly gets the message across. The spot was created by agency DDB Sydney, who also did the ‘Word’ campaign we featured recently. The commercial originally aired for three weeks in November 2010, as a prelude to a focused campaign for the Polo GTI the following month, and is currently being run again and promoted on Volkswagen Australia’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Steve Wakelam and Grant McAloon, Group Creative Heads, DDB Sydney, said: ‘Rather than fighting against what could have been a long, dry list of product features we decided to turn them into our creative ideas and hopefully have a bit of fun along the way. More importantly we managed to get a Chicago song in there, a long term professional goal.’

‘The Volkswagen Polo. Volkswagen, Condensed.’ TV campaign credits
Agency: DDB Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Matt Eastwood
Creative Group Heads: Steve Wakelam and Grant McAloon
Agency Producer: Claire Seffrin
Business Management: Patrice Bougouin
Planning Director: Nick Andrews
Production House: Plaza Films
Director: Paul Middleditch
Producer: Peter Masterton
DOP: Daniel Ardilly
Post House: The Editors
Sound: Nylon Studios
Media Agency: Mediacom

[Source: Campaign Brief]

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Last month, Volkswagen Australia launched a cute new 60-second brand TV commercial campaign to ‘celebrate the unique Volkswagen product experience.’ With 30 and 45-second edits to back the full-length ad up, agency DDB Sydney produced the spots, which aim to show the whole range of Volkswagen products available. Only using sounds of everyday life from fictional satisfied VW owners, the commercials are littered with sounds of appreciation, approval and the Volkswagens themselves. And where does the Polo fit in? A yellow example can be seen exiting a corner a second in during the full-length version above…

Volkswagen ‘Word’ TV campaign credits
Agency: DDB Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Dylan Harrison
Creative Directors: Steve Wakelam/Grant McAloon
Art Director and Copywriter: Steve Wakelam
Director: Steve Rogers
DoP: Simon Duggan
Production House: Revolver
Executive Producer: Michael Ritchie
Producer: Pip Smart
Strategic Planner: Nick Andrews
TV Production: Brenden Johnson/Claire Seffrin
Business Director: Patrice Bougouin
Media Agency: Mediacom
Client: Jutta Friese/Nina van der Wees/Loren Elsegood

[Source: Campaign Brief]

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