Volkswagen

Bad Ad: A man and woman are riding in a car down the streets of a city. There are words and phrases in the air which, although they should just be computer graphics for the TV audience to see, the couple can also see them. In addition, the words are affected by the motion of their car and by other elements along their path, such as tree branches, microphones, and talking VWs. Near the end of the spot, the man driving the car says, "I think we were just in a car commercial."

My Aditude: Unbelievable. We're supposed to suspend our disbelief for scenarios like this, but this is too much. There are just too many layers of nonsense. I guess the driver's line at the end is supposed to be humorous, but it falls flat. The only slightly redeeming feature of this ad are the word graphics themselves. They do truly appear to be real as they interact with the environment.

Marketing failure: This ad is supposed to appeal to adult drivers who are in the market for a new car and who may like Family Guy. What is there about this approach that would make anyone want to buy a VW? If the voiceover is telling us anything interesting or useful, it's totally lost due to the overpowering (albeit ridiculous) visuals. Are we supposed to think that we'll be able to see such abnormal things if we ride around in a VW? Would that be a good thing?