In a blow to NBC network, Volkswagen has announced it will not air a Super Bowl commerical. The auto company, who last made a splash with its Star Wars-themed “The Force” advertisement in 2011, says it is focused on other opportunities.
“Volkswagen is a great fan of the Super Bowl, and it has been a strong platform for our brand and our campaigns,” a spokeswoman said in an email to Automotive News. “However, for 2015 we have opted not to participate due to other priorities and initiatives.”
“We will consider rejoining when it is right for our brand,” she added.
Volkswagen joins Jaguar and Lincoln as not advertising during the big game. So far, according to NBC, automakers have purchased about half the number of spots the did in 2012 – the last year the network carried teh game.
The Volkswagen announcement means this will be the first time since 2010 they haven’t aired an advertisement. Their advertising has had its up and downs with very popular “The Force” advertisement of a child dressed up as Darth Vader starting a Passat to the mediocre “Wings” advertisement where an engineer gets wings every time a VW hits 100,000 miles. “The Force” was the most-viewed Super Bowl ad online that year and to this day has collected 60.7 million views.
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