# UK Dopers: did this VW ad actually air? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473 "2005-01-19T01:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/1 "2005-01-19T01:23:25Z")
I found a VW Polo ad online in which a Middle Eastern-looking man drives a Polo in front of a restaurant. He’s holding a triggering device in his hand and pushes the button. You see an explosion inside the car, but it doesn’t damage the outside, thus no one except the driver was killed. The tagline: Polo. Small but tough. I assume it’s the UK since the Polo isn’t sold in the US or Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/2 "2005-01-19T01:29:09Z")
I’m not proud of it, but yeah, I chuckled a little bit at your description. I don’t know about the question. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/3 "2005-01-19T07:58:02Z")
Where did you see it? It sounds like a spoof to me - there’s no way that would broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/4 "2005-01-19T11:15:55Z")
Not that i’ve seen. As **Gorillaman** says, theres no way they’d get that past the advert governing body (can’t remember what they’re called), there’d be complaints through the roof. Sounds like something the b3ta/Fark/SA folk would come up with to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/5 "2005-01-19T12:17:33Z")
I saw it at [iFilm.com](http://iFilm.com) under their Viral Video section. ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/6 "2005-01-19T16:27:51Z")
Airing that would be suicide :smack: ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/7 "2005-01-19T17:21:11Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > It sounds like a spoof to me - there’s no way that would broadcast. Which makes me wonder about that “Ford SportKa” ad I saw a video clip of, wherein the automatic sunroof decapitates a cat. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/8 "2005-01-19T23:18:31Z")
I figured it’s probably not a legit VW ad, but it does look real. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/9 "2005-01-19T23:27:19Z")
in the sixties, volkswagon made quite a big deal out of the fact they were “water tight” supposedly, they would float. there were a couple of commercials on tv with floating volkswagon beetles i saw an ad parody (i am pretty sure it was in national lampoon) with a floating beetle that looked exactly like the tv ads with the caption “if ted kennedy drove a volkswagon he would be president today” ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/10 "2005-01-20T03:46:03Z")
That video sure is going around. I had never heard of it until I read this thread, and three seconds after I closed this thread I checked my e-mail, and there it was. I agree that it looks like something from b3ta or Fark or SA. And it seems to be turning into what b3tans call a “glasscock”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/11 "2005-01-20T04:05:00Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Which makes me wonder about that “Ford SportKa” ad I saw a video clip of, wherein the automatic sunroof decapitates a cat. The story behind that was that it was supposed to be either just an in-house ad for fun, or a legitimate ad that wasn’t approved by VW. Either way the ad did not officially air in any commercial spots. However, the more cynical might say that VW purposely let it leak out as part of a viral ad campaign. You decide. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/12 "2005-01-20T08:58:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The story behind that was that it was supposed to be either just an in-house ad for fun, or a legitimate ad that wasn’t approved by VW. Good suggestion, and I’m leaning towards in-house joke. (Within the ad agency, not within VW.) Most of the shots could be cutting-room floor footage - only the guy fumbling with the bomb and the explosion itself would need to be specially-made. One could be done quickly in the studio, the other on computer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/13 "2005-01-20T09:04:43Z")
> [@Bob Scene](#): > > it seems to be turning into what b3tans call a “glasscock”. For the benefit of any onlookers, this term arose from [this](http://www.ifyougolf.com/graphics/ifyougolf/playingaround/golfaward.jpg) famous but rather unfortunate photograph of golfer Cristie Kerr kissing the trophy she had just won. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/14 "2005-01-20T20:58:39Z")
[Media Guardian: Spoof suicide bomber ad sparks global row](http://media.guardian.co.uk/advertising/story/0,7492,1394088,00.html) > [@](#): > > “Volkswagen UK and its agencies strenuously deny that they have any involvement in the creation of a viral advertisement that has been accessible through the internet depicting an explosion taking place inside a Volkswagen Polo,” the car maker said in a statement. > > One explanation is that the film was created by a maverick advertising wannabe trying to get work from Volkswagen. > > The mystery deepened after [MediaGuardian.co.uk](http://MediaGuardian.co.uk) tracked down the makers of the film, who revealed that some distinctively professional techniques had been used: it had been shot on 35mm film, not something an amateur would usually do, and cost £40,000, not a sum an amateur could afford. > > “Lee”, who refused to give his surname, apologised for the spoof advert, which he said was released accidentally, but refused to say who funded it. > > “We made the advert for Volkswagen,” said Lee. "We never really intended it for public consumption. It was principally something we made to show people in the industry but it got out somehow. > [@](#): > > Matt Smith, of the ad agency Viral Factory, said he thought the advert had been made as a “test” in order to get work. > > “My suspicion is that it was made for a very small audience in order to get work. It’s such a risky piece - it wasn’t meant to be seen by a mass audience.” > > A spokesman for Volkswagen said the company was considering legal action and blamed the advert on “two young creatives who are trying to make a name for themselves”. > > “We don’t take these sorts of risks with our advertisements. We regard ourselves as honest and respectable.” ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-did-this-vw-ad-actually-air/285473/15 "2005-01-20T21:01:16Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Which makes me wonder about that “Ford SportKa” ad I saw a video clip of, wherein the automatic sunroof decapitates a cat. Et voila… > [@](#): > > Last year Ford distanced itself from a viral advert that showed a Sport Ka viral showing a cat’s head being cut off by a car sunroof.