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Ad Report Card: Two Weddings and a Sales Pitch

By Rob WalkerUpdated Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001, at 4:14 PM ET

A while back, Ad Report Card reader Jon A. pointed out to me an interesting link between two recent (or then-recent) commercials. Because both ads still seem to be hanging around, I've decided to somewhat belatedly address them. One is for the Volkswagen Jetta (to see it, go here and scroll down to the ad called "Big Day"), the other touts Apple video software (see it here). The Jetta ad has a surprising ending, and the Apple one has a sort of jokey surprise ending. I'll be giving both away below. Just so you know.

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The Jetta ad: Against a pensive soundtrack (courtesy of J. Ralph, according to Volkswagen's site), a young guy motors along a country road. He looks tense. He seems to be in formal attire. The soundtrack stays the same as we begin cutting back and forth between him and a fresh-faced brunette about to be married—fussed over in her gown by bridesmaids and so on. In the Jetta, the guy checks his watch. He would seem to be the groom. His speedy Jetta helps him blow past occasional pokey drivers who block his way—but then he gets stuck at a train crossing. Although the only sound continues to be the trance-like music, we can see him scream in frustration. Finally he's at the church, dashes out of the car, up the church steps. Inside, there's the young woman in her wedding dress. Marrying someone else. This wasn't Mr. Jetta's wedding at all, apparently, but one that—Benjamin Braddock-style—he hopes to bust up. The spot ends inconclusively, with bride, groom, and interloper regarding each other uncertainly. Then, of course, the VW "Drivers Wanted" tag line.

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The Apple ad: The setting is a tropical island. A guy with tousled hair and open shirt is advising his friend with the video camera. And here's the thing—he's Mr. Jetta! Or at least it's the same actor who played the thwarted lover in the Jetta commercial. And what his friend is about to videotape is … his wedding. A native performs the service, and then we see the guy and his (fresh-faced, but blond) bride editing the footage on their Macintosh. Then we see an older couple, his parents, popping in the DVD he's made for them, and watching the ceremony. Dad seems puzzled. He looks at the DVD case, which says "Tom & Julie." "Julie?" he says. "Whatever happened to Leslie?" (Rimshot.) An announcers says: "Shoot, edit, burn. With iDVD from Apple, it's that easy."

The question: So, the fun thing here would be to imagine that it's not just the same actor, but actually the same character, rebounding from his failed attempt to bust up Leslie's wedding by eloping with Julie—to some South Pacific paradise rather than a gray New England church. (I'm making up the locales, obviously.) What made reader Jon A. point these spots out to me was the intriguing possibility that the recurrence of the same actor wasn't a coincidence, but an intentional decision by Apple to pick up a character from another campaign. I tend to doubt the latter scenario, but I don't think it really matters. Once you've seen both ads and noticed that it's the same guy, it's hard not to imagine them as one narrative. So I look forward to seeing the same actor in, I don't know, an ad pushing diapers, or life insurance. Or possibly Viagra.

Obligatory critiques: The Apple spot gets the basics done, but it's annoyingly hokey (not even the revelation that the decision to revive this character was intentional would redeem it, to me). On the other hand, I love the Jetta ad. It's not only way better than the foolish "Jerks for Jetta" campaign I {{ridiculed#2883:Show=1/8/2001&idMessage=6819}} a while back, it's also a better mini-movie than most of the ballyhooed offerings in BMW's recent Web films campaign (also {{ridiculed#110969}} in an earlier column). In the battle of the wedding ads, Jetta wins.

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Notes From The Fray Editor:

There were two Fray factions on this one: those who questioned the basic premise of a car ad that showed the driver arriving late--see Dave Norris and WTF, below. And then there were those who had a quite other question. Denice put it this way: “How do you know he was hoping to steal the bride?” Texwiz says the Jetta is the sissiest car on the road, and the guy needs a pickup (and we’re absolutely not telling you what he imagines the bride is thinking.) Captain Roy Voyage says it is a sissy car, but he believes the message of the ad is “Jetta--official car of the yacht-club rebel.” Michael Massie outlined the case for the bridegroom as love object below, and also endeared himself to us by starting his post: “I hate to argue just for the sake of it...actually I don't; it's the closest thing I have to a hobby.” That could be the definition of a great Fray poster. Ralph says the Jetta is the most popular gay car. (We could add: the last time we had a Jetta Fray--and utterly delightful it was too—there was no mention of this.)

Russell says here that “In another bit of irony, Dustin Hoffman, the original Ben Braddock, did Volkswagen commercials as a young actor.” More about the actor in the ads here from Mike. And a couple of posters say the tagline is actually “Fasten your seatbelts.” Is there more to come?

Reader Comments From The Fray:

Every time I see this commercial I think "that car must suck." The tag line should be "If he had been driving a Dodge, he'd have made it on time."

--WTF

(To find or answer this post, click here.)

What does it all mean?
Jetta guy is too late?
Jetta girl marries for money?
Non-Jetta guy gets stiffed?
If you drive a Jetta, you might be late?
If you drive a Jetta, you're probably a runner-up?
If you buy the car, you're a sucker for girls who make bad romantic decisions?

These kind of commercials give me a pain. But one that I can quickly remedy by changing channels.

--Dave Norris

(To find or answer this post, click here.)

I do feel Mr. Walker may be missing a possible alternate interpretation to the Graduate-esque wedding interruption in the Jetta ad. My slice on this pie would definitely refute, or at least strain the possibilities of, the idea that this is the same recurring character.

The key to my interpretation is the reaction of the erstwhile bride, upon the interruption of the ceremony. After Mr. Jetta bursts into the chapel at the appropriate time, we get a quick close up of the lady in white. What we see isn't outrage, or surprise, annoyance or relief, which we've been led by the aforementioned Graduate to expect. Instead we get an arched eyebrow and a look of...curiosity? attractive evaluation? unfamiliar interest. At any rate, I don't think she knows the guy.

I believe Mr. Jetta is there to bust up the wedding alright, but it's the prospective bridegroom he's after!

This would also parallel nicely with the very subtly ambiguous(or at the very least undefined)relationships among same-sex couple in VW spots of recent vintage. (I'm thinking primarily of the "Da Da Da" guys). Am I the only one seeing this?

--Michael Massie

(To find or answer this post, click here.)

(10/23)

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