# That Volkswagon Commercial Scares the Hell Outta Me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244 "2006-08-18T16:30:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244/1 "2006-08-18T16:30:03Z")
Last spring, I had the misfortune of getting in a car accident. It was entirely my fault, but the good thing is no one was hurt, just some body damage to both cars and a deployed airbag. Car crashes are a very traumatic thing! I came home after it, and wept like a baby. It was awful. Fast forward a few months, and I’m watching two guys have a pretty normal conversation. I don’t really know where it’s going but then a red pick-up truck starts backing out and OH MY GOD! :eek: ! That is the most realistic depiction of a car crash I have ever seen! And it scared the hell outta me! Anybody else get a similar reaction? Anybody think this will be effective marketing (our car may get in a lot of crashes, but it toughs it out!)? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244/2 "2006-08-18T17:13:10Z")
This isn’t the first thread those ads have spawned. I think that any advertising which catches people’s attention enough that they talk about it afterwards would probably be viewed as a success by the advertiser. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244/3 "2006-08-18T17:18:13Z")
Effective, yes. They’re still gut-wrenching every time. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244/4 "2006-08-18T18:04:21Z")
It took me several viewing to figure this out, but each crash ends with the participants saying “Holy sh–”…and then cuts to the tag line: “Safe happens”. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244/5 "2006-08-19T00:00:48Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] It took me several viewing to figure this out, but each crash ends with the participants saying “Holy sh–”…and then cuts to the tag line: “Safe happens”. [/QUOTE] Ha! I got that they were cutting off the ‘shit,’ but I didn’t make the connection with the tagline. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244/6 "2006-08-19T03:29:02Z")
Isn’t the ad campaign a total rip-off of a fairly recent State Farm (or some insurance company) campaign, though? ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-volkswagon-commercial-scares-the-hell-outta-me/369244/7 "2006-08-19T05:41:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sunshine and Smiles] Anybody think this will be effective marketing (our car may get in a lot of crashes, but it toughs it out!)? [/QUOTE] From now on, I will always associate driving a Volkswagen with getting into a horrible accident while out on a pleasant evening with friends. You won’t catch me getting into one of those cars.