This commercial begins with a little kid asking a bicycle salesman if a bike is fast, and the salesman says: “It’s got 10 speeds, my friend.” Then it shows the back of an AMC Vega driving down the street, revealing after it passes the kid, now a young teen, asking if a motor scooter is fast, and the older teen selling it says: “It’s got a lightning bolt on it, doesn’t it?” Then we see a young adult version of this speed demon asking again if the thing he’s looking at is fast: this time it’s a Camaro, and the car salesman says: “I don’t even know if it’s street legal!” But the next time we see this guy, he’s looking to be in his 30s, and he asks this time, not: “Is it fast?”, but rather: “Is it safe?” And as he rises from looking at the car, we see he’s got a baby in a baby harness, and we assume now he cares about safety, since he wants to deny his child excitement. (If it even is his child: maybe he kidnapped it, and he wants to buy a safe car so nobody will suspect that he, the speed demon guy, did it!) Then, of course, the VW dealer says, regarding the car’s safety: “Oh yeah: it’s a Volkwagen!” But then again, what else is he going to say, if he wants to sell the car? Would he say: “Nah, it’s a Volkswagen! Go buy a Volvo!”? Of course he’s going to say it’s safe!
I really like the simplicity of this commercial, and how it subverts our expectations, and shows a person’s changing needs once they have children. It’s a winner! And it makes me remember Volkswagen, because after those Darth Vader ads, I wasn’t expecting them to play up safety. (Maybe it’s a local ad!) So when the guy said it was safe because it was a Volkswagen, I sat up and took notice. They’re not usually known for safety, you see; at least, not that I’m aware of.
But then we come to the real problem aspect of this spot (there’s almost always some problem, isn’t there?), and it’s the music. You see, while they’re touting their car’s safety, they’re playing that old Ted Nugent song: “Stranglehold”, where he sings: “I’ve got you in a stranglehold, baby!” And the worst of it is that they play him singing that very line right after the dealership guy says the car is safe because it’s a Volkswagen (!). Well, I’m sorry, but being put in a stranglehold doesn’t sound all that safe to me, especially for a baby! Are they saying the car will put the baby into a stranglehold? That’s what it sounds like! You definitely lose points when your safety ad uses a song that describes violence. It’s so counter-intuitive, I can’t believe nobody put the kibosh on that song being in this ad, but whatever… But seriously, when you’re touting something safe, don’t use a song with violent imagery. Do I really have to tell people this? After this ad, apparently so.
What they should have done was use the “Stranglehold” song when he’s asking about the fast stuff, and then switch the song to something more appropriate when he’s got the baby and he’s asking about safety. He’s changed, so shouldn’t the music change along with him? But I’m not even sure this song is fast enough to be good for the fast part of the ad either! Now that I look at the ad again, the music stops for a moment, but then it starts again after the answer about it being safe, so it makes it look like they’re saying the guy or the car is putting the baby into a stranglehold (which might be true, considering all the child safety seat laws!). But still, they should have ended with a different song; something about babies, like “Little Creatures” by Talking Heads or something: anything but “Stranglehold”, which sounds very dangerous, especially for a baby!
But like I said, I really like this one. I just think the song at the end is a problem.
Here’s the speed-strangling spot:
