Volkswagen's Car Sex Commercial is Unsettling in an Unusual Way
Volkswagen USA released an advertisement on YouTube today entitled “Luv Bug,” and it uses the ever-popular growing family angle to appeal to the customer.
Click through to watch this interesting take on in-car entertainment, and see if you spot what’s wrong.
The minute-long spot depicts a couple who has trouble anticipating what happens as you add to the head count of your family. From New Beetle to Jetta, Tiguan, and then (to the point) the Atlas, more children mean you need more room. Apparently, extolling the virtues of having sex in various Volkswagen vehicles (but not the Atlas) was very important to the marketing team at Volkswagen.
The ad became a quick topic of discussion on TTAC’s internal Slack chat. Tim Cain didn’t like the lack of planning:
“I don’t like how they wait until the baby is approximately six months old to upsize. She should be pregnant. It’s when the baby is rear-facing that space is at a premium.”
“Wow, we don’t fit in the Beetle.” So they upgrade and don’t learn their lesson the next time. “Wow, we don’t fit in the Jetta.” So they upgrade and don’t learn their lesson the next time. “Wow, we don’t fit in the Tiguan.” So they upgrade. They’ll have nine kids and wonder why the Atlas isn’t working when they show up at Ford looking for a Transit.”
While Tim’s parental instincts kicked right in, your author was attuned to something a bit less practical, and a bit more OCD. Did you notice?
Just as the couple says goodbye to their New Beetle, replacing it with a new fourth-generation Jetta (sold from 1999-2005), it happens.
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Awe. I thought it was cute too. VW always have the best commercials. The writer of the headline is, for sure, an American. Europeans are used to depictions of human form and sexuality in media. Americans are not and can find it unsettling. Canada tends toward the American cultural norm. The permitted passionate interaction is conflict. You will be hard pressed to find anywhere outside of the muslim world, a society so sexually repressed as the American. A woman is threatened and roughed up, her hands are tied behind her back and she is forced to hold a glass on her head while a man points a gun at her face. American rating: PG all ages may enter. A woman contentedly washes her left armpit in the shower. American rating: R restricted to older audiences. (Movies: Skyfall/CloudAtlas) I would not be surprised if there were phone calls should this suggestive commercial run in America. The safe line has been perfectly walked by VW before. Two young men drive down the road. They do not look at each other, but they both nod their heads. The background music only repeats Da Da Da. According to a CBC radio editorial, this was a massive hit with, and widely revered by the homosexual community. That’s as sexy as you can get over here before squeam sets in. Of course the reality is that there is plenty of automotive... how would you say it? ...pregnacious behavior.
Same company, different model. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClM3lrGtOQk