Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Volkswagen Punch Dub Routan television commercial reviewed here.

The Volkswagen "Punch Bug" turned "Punch Dub" commercials are probably very successful. I wonder what percentage of people that get hit in real life because of these VW Punch Dub commercials don't like getting hit.

May we presume that those who do not like getting hit will probably never buy a VW? Dare I research how many fights the Volkswagen Punch Dub commercials might have already caused?
MIght be interesting if there had been a VW "Lip smack" campaign. You know, make love, not war, Lip Smack someone you love when you see a VW. (there I go again with my Alex Logic ideas).
a postal carrier hits a homeowner;
while a child gleefully takes in the violence;
a pregnant lady hits a realtor, I guess it's never too early to show a prospective human some violence;
and a young girl hits gramps really hard, causing him to spew out the lemonade he was guzzling that he had just bought from her lemonade stand.
As if all of that "action" wasn't dysfunctional enough, the Andy Griffith music theme plays in the background. The Andy Griffith show was one of the least violent shows ever made, a fact made more stunning since it revolved around a sheriff and his deputy buddy. The Andy Griffith television show is a classic american icon and to use the music theme in the violent manner in which the Volkswagen Punch Dub routan television commercial uses it is questionable, to say the least.
Ratcheting the outrageousness up one more notch, the entire adventure is all for show as dad was chauffering his brood of kids around the neighborhood specifically so they can see what devastation their VW Routan car will spontaneously wreak on the planet as people "punch dub" each other.

When the escorted kids viewing the violence that their VW Routan is inflicting on the world ask dad for another ride around the block so they can view more VW Punch Dubs, we learn the grandest lesson of all, it is better to cause violence, than to be on the receiving end of the violence.

Bravo! (sarcasm alert).

I wonder if the ad agency that came up with this campaign already had this particular commercial in mind when it created the prior versions of the VW Punch Dub ad campaign. As much as I would probably not want to be associated with these commercials nor their message of violence gone wild, I must admit that the spin the Routan commercial spot puts on the Punch Dub television commercials is seriously brilliant.
The message of the VW Routan ad is, "Don't be one of the losers either getting hit or hitting someone else whenever they see a VW, be the WINNER who DRIVES a VW that gets to watch all the losers pummel each other."
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
There is some seriously cleverly demented intellect going on in the message this commercial delivers. What makes this commercial so brilliant is, as bad as the message of punching someone else whenever a VW rolls by might appear to be from a humanistic, civilized and educated point of view, the message is completely en pointe with the state of the world's economy.

Virtually every aspect of anything to do with the economy has an exit plan. No matter what stock you own, you now have an exit plan. No matter what property you own, you now have an exit plan just in case. No matter what car you own.... own the car that makes other people hit each other, and not you.

What was it Patton said, "No bastard ever won a war dying for his country, he won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." Maybe it's time for an update to Patton's famous saying.
"If you want to watch the other dumb bastard die for his country, you can do it from the comfort of a VW Routan." -Alessandro Machi

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...
info at alexlogic.com
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by Alessandro Machi at

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alex,

Thankyou so much for your insightful analysis of this commercial. It is the end of June, 2010 and I have seen yet another "Punch Dub" commercial and dread when my 9 year old son will see it. I have been tormented by "punch dubs" for months now as he constantly mimics the commercial with me or his brother. It is incredibly annoying, but more than that disturbing that he takes the violence so non-chalantly. My husband is so disgusted he has vowed never to purchase a VW in his life, and I, being a Subaru lover, agree whole heartedly. I plan to email your blog site to all my friend and start a grass roots movement against Volkswagon to remove the commercials.

Yours Truely

Kris

Alessandro Machi said...

Wow, I love your comments Kris.

If VW had been a bit more clever, they could have created the punch dub theme around martians on mars. Maybe even had green goo come out of their arms when they got hit.

The point being it's not something we civilized humans would do back on earth.

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