Brand: Rabbit (Volkswagen AG)
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here or Here
Target: Young couples
Rating: ***
Reviewer: David

Description:
A black VW Rabbit (returning the Volkswagen Golf to its earlier U.S. name) chases a white Rabbit through the countryside, catching it in a tunnel. When the two cars reappear, they’ve spouted a brace of offspring, mostly gray rabbits with one black/white/gray mix. The party moves into a city where the Rabbits dissappear into a tunnel again, this time emerging with a legion of Rabbits who eventually cause Volkeswagen Rabbit gridlock in the city. At the end of the spot we see a silver VW Rabbit icon followed by the tagline “It’s back@$14,990.”

What Works:
This spot is nicely executed with a whimsical feeling, quirky, upbeat music and good product visuals of the new Volkswagen Rabbit. The proliferation of Rabbits at the end of the spot is a clear metaphor for the ‘people’s car’ that Volkswagen is meant to be.

What Doesn’t:
The concept of this spot seems simple (VW Rabbits breed like real Rabbits) but is surprisingly difficult to grasp upon casual viewing. In this sense, the spot is actually too high-concept. In an attempt to be witty, they’ve created a proposition which requires a close watch to follow. Without following the proposition the spot leaves you wondering why on earth Volkswagen would ever want to show the Rabbit or any other product creating gridlock. This is a good example of overthinking a spot and making the viewer work too hard. This spot also doesn’t answer the basic question ‘why’ for the rebrand from Golf to Rabbit. While this advertising blog believes that the VW Rabbit has more differentiated and unique brand equity than the Volkswagen Golf ever commanded, it is a mistake to slap the Rabbit logo onto a Golf product that hasn’t changed much.

Branding Bottom Line:
And we thought it was a pain just getting the dog fixed.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Volkswagen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.