In this spot for the VW Jetta, our stalwart heroic VW owner can’t find his keys, and he figures out that his dog has eaten them, and hence squeezes and fondles the dog to operate the remote control to unlock and start the car (on his way to the vet to get his dog operated on, I suppose). Now, this is unquestionably a brilliant ad campaign idea: using as a selling point the fact that pets always eat the Jetta’s keys. But the problem is, they don’t really do anything to prove it. I mean, are we simply supposed to take their word for it that our pets will want to eat a Jetta’s keys more than any other car’s keys? Why should I trust them about that? And this is where the ad fails: it does not sufficiently convince me that my pets will eat the keys reliably enough for me to want to buy the Jetta.
Like most people, one of the things I look for in a car is the irresistibility of its keys to pets, and the certitude that they will be eaten by my pets. But just because they show me a scenario of some guy’s dog having eaten the keys in an ad, that’s no proof that my dog will eat the keys. See what I mean? For me to buy this Jetta, they have to convince me that my dog will eat the keys, not just show an ad that says dogs like to eat them. So they really need to show me why pets eat Jetta keys more than any other car’s keys. Do they look like Beggin’ Strips or squeaky chewy toys? (They should be!) Are they filled with catnip just in case you have a cat instead of a dog? (I hope so!) What is it about this car’s keys that make them so delicious and irresistible to dogs and cats? Just because they say dogs will eat them is not sufficient proof. After all, this is an advertisement: advertising claims are perceived to be notoriously untrustworthy, so they really have to show us how it works. (That in addition to the fact that we do not even see the dog eat the keys in this spot: we simply have to take their word for it, and they likely faked the whole thing, those cheaters. We need to see the dog eat the keys, and see the dog choose them over other brands of car keys for this selling point to be convincing!)
But don’t get me wrong, just because they don’t show us why, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their claim that dogs will gobble up the Jetta’s keys is false or exaggerated. It’s just that dogs might want to eat other car keys as well, and might like other car keys even better. So what is it about the Jetta’s keys that make them so delicious to pets? Show me my dog will eat my car keys, and I’m sold! Or wasn’t that the point of this ad? (Maybe they’re trying to help the veterinary business?)
Here’s the canine key consumption catastrophe car commercial:
