Volkswagen on Inside That Ad

VW 'Drivers Wanted' Returns: Johannes Leonardo's Super Bowl Bet

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000

“Drivers Wanted” ran from 1995 to 2002 and was one of the defining brand platforms of its era — a campaign that made Volkswagen feel young, irreverent, and European in a way that American car advertising had not previously figured out. Reviving it is a high-wire act. The nostalgia trap is obvious: do it wrong and the resurrection reads as a brand out of ideas, reaching backward for borrowed credibility. Do it right and the platform’s equity transfers into the present moment.

Volkswagen The Force: How a Kid in a Darth Vader Suit Sold a Million Cars

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 08:15:00 +0000

Every now and then an advertisement emerges that feels less like something crafted in a meeting room and more like something that had always existed, waiting to be discovered. Volkswagen’s “The Force” is that kind of commercial. Released in the week before Super Bowl XLV in 2011 and created by Deutsch LA, it became the most watched commercial in Super Bowl history at the time — not because it aired during the game, but because it went viral before the game even happened.

Thoughts on the 2011 Super bowl Commercials

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 06:36:00 +0000

The Force**

Brand: VolkswagenClient: Volkswagen of America, IncAd Agency: Deutsch, L.A.**** There was no doubt in my mind that “The Force” was the best spot of the night. Of course the Mini Vader spot was going to win, people are suckers for small animals and cute babes/kids. Cute babies and kids are the ad industry’s go to play when it comes to entertaining the crowd for the big game. To add to the Mini Vader saga, according to Adfreak Volkswagen’s super kid whose name is Max page suffers from a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, and he needs a pacemaker. Now if that doesn’t pull on people’s heart strings nothing will.