"No Going Back"

21 October 2023

60s

Take a seat.

This is a lovely old-fashioned style of VW advertising, centring – as it does – on a single feature of their cars. It's also one of those commercials that would unquestionably benefit from the audience not knowing what it's for, something to bear in mind as you watch it knowing full well where it's going. The female protagonist's dissatisfaction with every seat in which she sits has no obvious explanation... until the revelation that she's been spoiled by the advertised car's perfect ergonomics.

Director Björn Rühmann has put together a splendid series of vignettes to bring the point home, with a gentle acceleration of her frenzy to amplify the contrast between the seats she tries, and the ultimate comfort of the VW.

It's an extremely simple idea that harks back to the heyday of this marque's TV advertising, and is suggestive of a returning confidence after the diesel scandal quite rightly had consumers wondering whether or not the brand was trustworthy.

USA

Cars