The First Post – My Favorite Television Commercial Ever

It’s not a big budget production with amazing special effects. It doesn’t feature any celebrities. It only has one shot, followed by the prototypical white screen with a logo/tagline. And yet, I think it was a fantastic representation of a brand that has resurrected itself from the dead in the United States and established a unique spot for itself in the mind of American consumers. What is it? Why, its the Volkswagen “Shopping Cart” commercial, created by Arnold Worldwide of Boston in 1999 (roughly) and a part of the classic “Drivers Wanted” campaign.  Here it is:

In the early nineties, Volkswagen found itself on the verge of collapse in the US market with 1993 sales of less than 50,000. In Europe, VW had (and still does) a long and successful history of producing fun-to-drive cars sold at a premium price over their competition.  In 2008, they were the best-selling brand in Europe, beating #2 Ford by a wide margin (see the numbers here). But in America, Volkswagen was still best known for the Beetle and the Type 2 (AKA Transporter, Bus or Vanagon), neither of which could ever be described as “premium.”

Soon after hitting rock-bottom, VW began a renessiance led by fantastic new product, but accompanied by a fantastic ad campaign, which debuted in 1995. The campaign was light-hearted, witty and each utlilized the message: “On the road of life, there are passengers and there are drivers.  Drivers wanted.”  I believe those ads created a new identity for Volkswagen in America – the brand now stood for individuality, style and being fun-to-drive. When people got to the showroom and drove one, they found interiors with quality and craftsmanship they’d never seen at the same pricepoint; remember people talking about the blue glow of VW dashboards at night and the clever switchblade-type keys?  It created a segment of customers that were proud to say they owned VW’s, something not found as commonly with owners of competitive cars.

And that’s why I love the Shopping Cart ad; it makes you laugh, but hits home the message that VW drivers are different, that they love their cars more. Can you imagine someone diving in front of a shopping cart to stop it hitting their Ford Taurus or Toyota Camry?  I can’t.  Six years later, VW sales were over 350,000.  Fourteen years later, VW is still trying to find that same magic, having switched agencies and launching a variety of very different campaigns – the “shock value” ones where they showed VWs getting in severe accidents, the “Fast” campaign (which I also loved), the “Das Auto” campaign showcasing the old Beetle as a “host” (which I can’t stand) and the “Unpimp Your Ride” campaign.

So what do you think?  Great commercial or not?

Here’s some links for more if you’re interested:

Business Wire – April 23, 1997 article

VW America history on Wikipedia

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