VW has never been one for conventional ad campaigns. From the days of the Beetle, they’ve had distinctive advertising. And these certainly do grab the attention. Lots of ads can slide right past unnoticed, but everyone who sees one of these will remember there was a VW ad in that slot. I’d be pretty surprised if VW were unhappy with them.
One detail I’ve noticed: in spite of conversing with passengers, the drivers are paying attention to the road. It’s very clear that these are accidents, and not the sort of thing that inattentive drivers have coming in some way.
I’m not sure about that. In the one with the young adults coming from the movie, you can see a green light out past the driver’s head, and it looks like it is facing the other direction (oncoming traffic). But not conclusive. I looked a few times to see if they were trying to portray it as one or the other’s fault.
Hadn’t noticed the traffic light; I’ll watch for it next time. But the drivers aren’t turning and looking at the passengers while they converse, they’re watching where they’re going. In the one where the truck backs out, the guy nails the brakes instantly (if futilely).
I just saw the Tbone ad again. The car comes to a stop. Through the windshield and slightly off to the right, you see a red light turn green. The car starts moving. BAM! Then you have a shot looking off to the left with a red light in view. I think it’s pretty clear that they’re hit by a guy running the light. I really should amend my “paying attention” point, though, because when the light turns green, you should really notice somebody coming blasting through the light from the left. Still, the other driver clearly at fault.
These commercials don’t make me want to buy a VW, but they might be effective in planting a “VW’s are safe cars” seed in people’s minds.
I think the commercials are a nice reality check, showing what can and does routinely happen out on the road. As opposed to stupid ones like the Honda commercial where the car is happily flying through the city. Oooook…
I got rear-ended at about 20 MPH and then pushed into a truck in front of me, in my Honda Accord about three years ago. The accident caused $11,000 in damage to the front and rear, yet the car was still drivable (once the bumper was tied) and I was perfectly alright.
Anyone else remember the commercial with the car driving underwater? Of course, they put the ever-helpful disclaimer at the bottom telling us to NOT drive underwater… :rolleyes:
I saw one of these commercials for the first time last night and it really angered me. It seemed to say that it’s okay to be an irresponsible driver, because your car will protect you! Who cares about the other car? Nobody! And will these beautiful young people get their licenses revoked for such behavior? Never! Such is the law in advertising land.
Granted, in the one I saw (the one with the fancily-dressed black couple) the driver did not look as though he were watching the road to me, his attention occasionally flicked over to his wife. If I catch one of these again I’ll pay closer attention, but I’ll probably still be mad.
You would have loved my accident - me, stopped at a red light, hit from behind by a large Ford (F250?) truck going 50 MPH. It’s been over a year and I still hear the strange sounds and feel the crash. I have permanent bruises on my legs and 3 bulging discs as souvenirs. I was in a Subaru Outback, and it was totaled but I guess I came out OK. I just can’t watch those commercials. My pscyhiatrist says I’m moving from acute traumatic stress disorder into PTSD. Yay. If you don’t mind, I’ll just change the channel when those ads come on. I cried the first time I saw one.
Isn’t that pretty much what I said? Still, doesn’t change the fact that the other driver would receive 100% of the fault for the accident in pre “no-fault” days.
