Volkswagen's now famous Dadada commercial, originally titled "Sunday Morning," intrigued, attracted, resonated with, and inspired its target audience and signaled a renaissance of the VW brand as a cultural symbol. In the spot, we see two young men driving aimlessly around town listening to music. They have no apparent purpose other than to just be out driving. They see an old, discarded chair of the "college house" variety and load it into the back of the car. As they continue to drive aimlessly, they begin to notice a bad smell. Having already been alerted to their fastidiousness concerning the cleanliness of the car (one wipes the dash early on), it is no surprise that they quickly stop and leave the chair to await the trash man once more. They drive off just as happily and aimlessly as when they were first seen.

The reason this spot worked is because it intrigues the viewer with its soundtrack and the anticipation felt as the two men drive around, we initially think, in search of something. The attraction of the spot, that is, what makes it repeatedly viewable with interest, is the purposeful aimlessness of the men. The message may be that VW is about driving for pleasure, but the novelty of a commercial that goes nowhere despite its humor is attractive. Furthermore, not only the message of "VW is for drivers," but also the experience of the smelly old chair resonated with the target market. It was a familiar trope. And in terms of inspiration, this ad spawned many parodies, was raved about in the popular press, led to increased sales of the music used for its soundtrack, and created an expression, "dadada" The viewer is also able to build a story around the two guys driving aimlessly, to make up further scenes for them and the car, to speculate about their relationship. (I should point out that gay audiences responded to the actors as a couple, whereas straight audiences simply assumed they were just friends. This "split reading" was intentionally part of the spot's construction.)

1984

Apple Computer's "1984" spot that introduced the Macintosh is a regularly cited example of great advertising according to many criteria. I will discuss how it fulfills the criteria of intrigue, attraction, resonance, and inspiration for my theory of advertising as a narrative fragment. The spot opens with a striking, blonde woman pursued through the drear world of an Orwellian future. She makes her way to an auditorium where rows of Borg-like men are seated before a giant TV screen from which their dictator speaks. The woman rushes the room and hurls a hammer at the screen, destroying it. She, like the new computer, is an instrument of freedom and individual power.

Often credited with introducing heightened expectations for Super Bowl ads, this spot more than fulfills the qualification of intrigue. It is shockingly different. It is also attractive. Despite having only aired once, it had extraordinary high recall and has continued to be talked about for more almost 17 years. Virtually all students of advertising have seen it in their careers. It is a spot that resonates strongly with its target audience. It became a rallying point against the domination of the personal computer market by IBM. Furthermore, it is an inspiring piece of creative work; we never know what the back-story on the revolutionary woman is, the viewer can invent that. We also have no answer as to what the dystopian world will be like after the explosion she causes. The viewer is left with the ability to create a dramatic meta-narrative is he or she so chooses, as such, this spot is a wonderful example of how a brand can employ an open-ended narrative fragment in an ad and sow the seeds of life-long loyalty.

Overview