Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Volkswagen
VIDEO: New VW guitar ad goes to eleven!
The initial go-around for Volkswagen's First Act guitar promotion featured Slash tearing it up against a white background with black GTIs set up like massive amp stacks. Good commercial. It doesn't hold a candle to the second spot, though. The person at the ad agency who thought of this one deserves some sort of award.
Round two of the v-dubsrock.com ads opens with Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) mid-solo, resplendent in black t-shirt, kilt, tube socks, and sneakers. He's standing on the roof of a white Jetta as it rises from beneath the stage in dramatic fashion. White Rabbits (visual pun intended?) adorn the four corners, and the background is all black, making it the opposite of the Slash spot.
Nigel falls off the car at the end of his solo, but he's okay. Had the VW promotion involved drums, of course, there might have been cause for concern...
Thanks for the tip, Tom.
[Source: YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Stubby Richards 12:03PM (10/12/2006)
Great Ad. Still wouldn't get me to buy a VW. As was stated by someone else a week ago, VW should have offered an Ipod and not a Guitar. Everyone wants an Ipod. Not everyone wants or plays a guitar.
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Gary 12:09PM (10/12/2006)
"There's a very fine line between stupid and clever."
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Stubby Richards 12:22PM (10/12/2006)
The other problem is who the heck is going to know who the Guitarist is? I doubt many of the slacker, pot smoking wanna be who dictate their lives based on video games and MTV would know who the fake band Spinal Tap is, let alone know who the fake members are (or even know who Chritopher Guest is).
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Ed 12:23PM (10/12/2006)
I've never sat in my car and wanted to play my guitar and if I did it would be my accoustic guitar. VW when will you learn the Trex bike thing was a flop too.
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Silver 12:23PM (10/12/2006)
Love the ads - hate the promotion. Bike + VW = OK. iPod + VW = fantastic. Guitar + VW = ?????
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dave 12:39PM (10/12/2006)
"I doubt many of the slacker, pot smoking wanna be who dictate their lives based on video games and MTV would know who the fake band Spinal Tap is"
Um, Stubby, that's exactly who would know who that is ... Dumb/funny movies like Spinal Tap are passed down from generation to generation of "slacker, pot-smoking wannabes." Trust me.
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David P Brown 1:07PM (10/12/2006)
I think this is one of the biggest promotion blunders. A Guitar? I would expect to see a lot of these on ebay in the next few weeks!
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Justin Hollabaugh 1:11PM (10/12/2006)
I'm not sure how great an idea giving away a guitar with your new VW is but I personally liked the Slash commercial better. He's performing music rather than comedy.
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Mike 1:16PM (10/12/2006)
Geeze, deciding what car to buy based on what promotional gimmic is being offered sound quite moronic to me!
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lalaland 1:17PM (10/12/2006)
Come on, VW, the guitar promo is stupid. You just know someone in marketing management is friends with someone at the guitar company, which is having slow sales because they misjudged the slowing economy and have too much inventory. An iPod promo would be so much better.
As Nigel aptly says: "You can't really dust for vomit."
Then again, the ad is funny. I think the solo is from "Lick My Love Pump."
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DPC car videos 2:55PM (10/12/2006)
Whoever came up with this VW/guitar idea should get fired, you should buy the car because of its great features as a car not because there is a gift prize inside like breakfast cereals.
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J Ray 3:46PM (10/12/2006)
It's crackerjacks all over again. The prize was worthless... but coolectible now.
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epp_b 7:39PM (10/12/2006)
Nice skirt.
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joe 9:15PM (10/12/2006)
Hah! best ad ever. say, does anyone know when spinal tap will be coming out on Blu-Ray, or HD-DVD?
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Leo 10:55PM (10/12/2006)
another scam frrom VW to get customers to buy their POS cars
a friend of mine had a passat adn a jetta in 02 adn both wer POS - transmition issue, engine issues and their warranty did not even cover the transmitin
they ended up paying $5k for the fix and just sold the car at a los afterwards - it probably was a good idea as they wold have had to fix thos POS adn spend even more money
what a waste of a car - VW is like the POS car from Europe
kinda llike Suzuki or Mitsubishi is the POS of Japan
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Mike 11:06AM (10/13/2006)
Geeze Leo, either your "buddy" isn't very bright, buying two POS - you'd think he would learn after his first mistake - or, your "buddy" is just your immaginary friend - the one that people always refer to when they want to talk about a topic they are clueless about.
Talking about buddies, I have a buddy that has bought 4 VWs and has had no problems with those POS!
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cars specifications 3:07PM (10/14/2006)
Neither in my bad nigtmare I won't associate that music with an VW.
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Whiplash 8:29PM (10/14/2006)
Come on people, lighten up. VW knows damn well that nobody is going to buy their cars to get some cheapo guitar. Campaigns are designed to create "buzz" within a certain demographic, and that's exactly what it's doing. It's getting the brand in front of people's eyes in a way that makes them remember it. I think it's brilliant.
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KW 2:30PM (10/16/2006)
I think it's a decent move by VW - the rockers the picked help them get away from the unofficial "chick car" classification imo. First Act has some nice guitars, I'm sure they'll benefit by association.
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Brian 3:11PM (10/16/2006)
Great ad, but I'm not sure if I don't like the first with Slash better. Honestly, I think the VW/First Act campaign is a great idea. I think anyone who is interested in getting a new VW probably already has an ipod - in which case you’re dealing with a saturated market. The ad campaign is trying to do something new and fresh. Playing a guitar is something hip that we all wanted to do when we were kids and probably never got around to do – and is the image that the campaign is shooting for: something youthful and fun, like when they offered the bike. And besides, a First Act custom guitar is something interesting that not everyone has, unlike an mp3 player. If they just threw in an ipod, wouldn’t most people’s reaction be “eh, that would have been a good idea a couple years ago…”?
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