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Love this ad. Why has it already been shared on facebook by two of my friends (one of whom has no children and never wants to have any) and turned viral – over 6 million hits in 24 hours -when the same manufacturers second ad,  released at the same time, has received less than one tenth of the interest? What makes this ad so compelling?  Why is it going to be one of the ads of the year?
The answer is that it taps into some things that are very human. Firstly, we want to reward the child’s persistence, we believe that hard work and persistence should reap rewards. We are rooting for the child.
Secondly, and at the heart of the ad, is that we would do the same thing that the father does; because we all want the kid to believe.
We want kids to believe that they can sing and no one can hear them, we all want them to believe in magic and Santa.
By extension I believe it ties in with an even more important human need: hope. Belief and hope. If we were to make an equation of what the ad represents its this: belief + hope (realized) Â = joy.
So here’s to art in ads and an ad that manages to succinctly convey a positive message – very successfully connecting a car with hope and joy. Engineering and manufacturing considerations notwithstanding, it’s going to make a big, big success out of the 2012 Passat.
About Simon
Simon Houghton creator of The Bloke Show started life as a baby, going on to become a boy and then a man, at which time he became an actor. As time passed he went on to be a director, later still he became a sales guy, then a business owner. Most recently he regressed and became a writer. Then a driver, then an actor again.
Decisiveness is not one of his strong suits.
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The Force
Love this ad. Why has it already been shared on facebook by two of my friends (one of whom has no children and never wants to have any) and turned viral – over 6 million hits in 24 hours -when the same manufacturers second ad,  released at the same time, has received less than one tenth of the interest? What makes this ad so compelling?  Why is it going to be one of the ads of the year?
The answer is that it taps into some things that are very human. Firstly, we want to reward the child’s persistence, we believe that hard work and persistence should reap rewards. We are rooting for the child.
Secondly, and at the heart of the ad, is that we would do the same thing that the father does; because we all want the kid to believe.
We want kids to believe that they can sing and no one can hear them, we all want them to believe in magic and Santa.
By extension I believe it ties in with an even more important human need: hope. Belief and hope. If we were to make an equation of what the ad represents its this: belief + hope (realized) Â = joy.
So here’s to art in ads and an ad that manages to succinctly convey a positive message – very successfully connecting a car with hope and joy. Engineering and manufacturing considerations notwithstanding, it’s going to make a big, big success out of the 2012 Passat.
About Simon
Simon Houghton creator of The Bloke Show started life as a baby, going on to become a boy and then a man, at which time he became an actor. As time passed he went on to be a director, later still he became a sales guy, then a business owner. Most recently he regressed and became a writer. Then a driver, then an actor again. Decisiveness is not one of his strong suits.