May the Force Be With You...

The Volkswagen Force commercial’s primary intention is to advertise and ultimately sell the newest Passat model.  In reality, however, this commercial tries to sell much more than cars – it tries to sell a lifestyle.  The company uses nostalgia, humor, and images of perceived success to reach the audience.  In this cookie cutter mid-American upper-middle class family, the father works (as evidenced by his coming home at the end of the commercial) and the mom stays home with the young boy (as evidenced in her giving him a sandwich for lunch).  The people in the video are portrayed as financially and culturally/socially successful.   VW is attempting to portray what they perceive to be the American dream – working dad, stay at home mom, a cute kid, a dog, and a German car in the driveway. 

This commercial used strong nostalgic images to reach a very specific and targeted audience – young white working families.  The Star Wars Trilogy came out in the late 70’s and early 80’s, when their target audience was in their teens.  The images from Star Wars may have defined, or at least influenced, years of their target audiences lives, so I consider it very clever to tap into that nostalgia.  The advertiser transposes images of the families that they seek to reach – a ‘this could be you if you owned a Volkswagen’ approach.  The entire commercial is filmed through a third person objective lens, but it follows the behaviors and needs/wants of a young boy dressed in a Darth Vader costume.  We see the boy become disappointed over his lack of Darth Vader powers when he tries to influence ‘regular things’ (the advertiser here is creating a divide between the ‘average’ items- elliptical machines, washing machines, a doll that resembles Luke Skywalker, and peanut butter sandwiches – and the extraordinary – the new VW Passat), but the audience finally shares in the boys triumph and surprise when his powers work on the car.  Here, the advertiser is also trying to connect with the kid inside all of us, allowing us to share first in his frustrations with the everyday, and finally in his excitement and disbelief over his success (and who doesn’t want to dress up in a Darth Vader costume?)  Since the commercial is filmed through the third person lens, we are also able to share in some of the feelings of the parents.  For example, the mother humoring (or dismissing?) the boy’s attempts at telekinesis while going about her everyday doings makes a connection to the mothers in the audience.  The father’s clothing (casual suit, briefcase) and desire to hug his son when he gets home also appeals to the family men in the audience, while the young parents together can share a feeling of satisfaction at having both tricked their son and made him incredibly pleased with himself at the end of the day.  This portrayal of family dynamics is both a reproduction and representation of reality. 

I think that this advertisement was successful in its attempt to reach a specific and targeted audience, capture their attention, and convey a message.  Petterson, on information design, states “Regardless of the selected medium, a well-designed information material, with its message, will satisfy aesthetic, economic, ergonomic, as well as subject matter requirements” (Petterson 40).  Aesthetically, the commercial was clear, utilized single-angle and steady shots (an appeal to their older audience who prefers this to quick flashing images), and took advantage of well-known and powerful music to capture the audience’s attention from the start.  I would also suggest that by aligning VW with Star Wars, the advertisers are suggesting that the Volkswagen brand, much like the Star Wars brand, is part of American culture, has a strong influence on that culture, and is a ‘force to be reckoned with’ that has staying power and an ability to connect with multiple generations at the same time. 

I think that by filming the commercial in this way, Volkswagen was able to successfully appeal to all of the stakeholders in their target audience – mom needs to be happy, dad needs to be happy, and the kid(s) need to be happy.  I would also suggest that filming the commercial in an alternate point of view, for example, the first person point of view of the child, would both weaken the intended message and would even possibly appeal to a different demographic than would potentially buy the car, thus weakening the effectiveness of the ad. 

The students in my classroom conduct advertisement analysis when they learn about persuasive techniques, so this activity really put me in their shoes!  What this reinforces, however, is the importance of the ability to apply and analyze information over the ability to recall details.  Over the course of our lives, the content and medium through which messages are delivered changes, but it is our ability, and the ability of our students, to identify that a message is being delivered, analyze that message, and make an educated decision about how to act in response to that message is what is most important.  The P21 initiative corroborates this intention, as well as the importance of embedding problem solving, critical thinking, and media literacy into core content knowledge.