The Most Adorable Star Wars-Themed Car Salesman

You're spending some down time watching some mind-numbing TV, and, oh goody a commercial break. A few advertisements go by with no attention paid to them; but then, a plain white hallway appears on screen. Definitely not the best way to capture your attention. Then, the wonderfully familiar black cloaked figure appears and the intense chords of the Imperial March begin. But hold on a minute, something about this Darth is different. The shot pans out to reveal that this Sith lord is pint-sized. Not only is he adorable; but in the next few seconds, he will attempt to sell you a brand new Volkswagen Passat.

The 2012 Volkswagen Passat commercial in its full glory first aired during the 2011 Super Bowl, and has been going strong in shorter, more condensed versions during daytime television and few scarce primetime appearances.

It features a small child dressed all-out in a Darth Vader costume attempting to “use the Force” to move objects like the real Vader does in the movies. The camera follows him on a short journey throughout his upper-middle class home. We see him attempt to get some reaction by staring intently at objects with outstretched hands like a Jedi is able to do in the Star Wars films; these objects include a baby-doll, exercise bike, washing machine, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and even the family dog. When the father finally returns home, the child is more interested in trying to harness the power of the Force to get a reaction from dad’s new car. He stares at it intently, when suddenly the car engine starts up and the lights flash. The scene then shifts to the parents watching from the kitchen window and the father’s thumb just leaving the “Start” button on the remote. "Dad" successfully scared the crap out of his son, who now also may believe that he can use the Force. The advertisement grabs your attention by color contrast, movement, and sound. Rules of filming are well executed, mainly being that you want to linger on a scene long enough for the audience to understand, but not so long that they become bored.

The gimmick of this add is definitely the “awww” factor, which makes the strength of the argument not as good as perhaps it could be. Even though the majority of the commercial focuses on the child in the Darth Vader costume, the “Keeping up with the Joneses” argument that it makes is clearly present in the background. The child in the Star Wars garb lives in quite a nice house; spacious, well decorated, and presumably up to date in a nice neighborhood. When the father returns home in his brand new car, he is well dressed in a fashionable suit, so we assume that he is successful in his job. By the “sales-pitch” standard that commercials tend to go by, if you purchase this vehicle, you will be successful too.

Another draw is the familiar music and character Darth Vader from the beloved Star Wars films. Even if you have never seen the movies, you most likely know the reference at least vaguely. Star Wars is a globally known franchise; and has fans of all ages, so the fan-base of this commercial is quite large. Many of the fans who grew up with the films may have a sentimental liking for the ad due to memories of similar costumes or dreaming to harness the power of the Force themselves. Another factor that may have led to the making of the commercial was the much anticipated release of all six Star Wars movies on Blu-Ray (with extensive bonus features) that was released early in the fall. During that time period the country was crazy with Star Wars fever. For heavens sake Pringles even had Star Wars packaging.

The child in the ad conveyed his emotions incredibly well by simply using his hands, posture, and movement; he was a fantastic little mime in a bug-eyed helmet.

Throughout the commercial he seems to be frustrated, bored, and even disappointed, and defeated but when dad comes home in the new Volkswagen he becomes excited. “Coincidence.” you may say? Of course not. When the child bypasses his father to stare intently at it and the engine“magically” revs, he is excited and shocked. Those reactions and emotions are not coincidence either. Of course they get the desired laugh, but they are aiming to say that the 2012 Volkswagen Passat is an exciting vehicle with a shocking remote-start feature. Imagine what the reactions would be to some of the vehicle’s other

features that weren't shown in the advertisement if the child was affected by the remote-start that much.

I believe this commercial to be based mostly on the effect of pop culture on our society, due to the fact that nearly everyone has been exposed to Star Wars in

some way, shape, or form. Nearly everyone understands the ad and are amused by it, even if they have never seen the movies. The people at Volkswagen most likely thought that if they put a child version of a decades-old yet still very present pop culture icon that people would pay attention to their product. I believe this tactic to have worked very well. I’m watching Volkswagen, you have my attention. Though, as a college student, I hardly have 20 grand to spend on a new car.

To watch the full advertisement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0&feature=player_detailpage