Every saga has a beginning…
Last year, Volkswagen aired a Super Bowl TV ad with a Darth Vader-dressed kid discovering the dark side of the Force with a VW Passat.
2012 VW Super Bowl TV ad? A story with a dog, fitness and – yes – Star Wars!
Just to remind, this is the VW 2011 TV Spot that started it all.
The story behind these TV spots it’s all about fun and creativity, as reported by Mashable and leveraging the very best of the Star Wars cultural heritage.
Mark Hunter, CCO of Deutsch LA, which created “The Force” and the new ad, “The Dog Strikes Back,” acknowledges that the former ad was a tough act to follow. “The pressure is on because we did that great ad,” he says. “We don’t mind. That’s what we’re in this business for.”
Hunter jokes that the Deutsch team went to work on the new ad shortly after the whistle blew in the 2011 Super Bowl. Actually, work began in earnest about six months ago. Over that time, the agency went through many, many concepts. “I would be surprised if the raw number of script ideas was less than 200,” he says.
One of the challenges was to somehow work in a Star Wars reference. Hunter says the online Star Wars community is one of the reasons that last year’s ad caught on. One major difference is that most advertisers are dropping their complete ads before the big game. Last year, VW was among a more select group.
The timing, however, is the same: The Wednesday before the big game. Within a day, the video had received more than 150,000 views. However, VW’s teaser for this latest ad, “The Bark Side,” already has racked up 10 million views since hitting YouTube Jan. 18.
High expectations to the 2012 follow-ups lead to teaser-like TV spots like this, aptly named “The Bark side”:
[Via Mashable]
