Behold “Wings” — Volkswagen’s Game Day commercial that will air during the second quarter of the 2014 Super Bowl this Sunday, February 2nd. The 60-second ad is a humorous spot that “embodies the Volkswagen spirit” and marks the fifth consecutive year that VW has advertised during during the Big Game. Watch:
Wings was developed by San Francisco-based ARGONAUT and highlights the claim that VW has the most vehicles on the road with over 100,000 miles. The spot starts with a father driving with his daughter in a (North American-market) Passat; the father points out that the car’s odometer is about to roll over to 100,000 miles, thus commemorating a special moment in the car’s history. But the iPhone-wielding girl doesn’t seem to follow the commemorative event, asking “so?”.
The Passat’s odometer rolls over to the coveted 100,000 miles
“It’s a big deal”, explains the father, adding, “What if I told you that every time a Volkswagen hits 100,000 miles, a German engineer gets his wings?” A demonstration of what such an event could look like ensues, with (supposedly German) engineers at a (supposedly VW) plant miraculously (and quite inopportunely) sprouting wings.
Wings, man. Wings!
The daughter then retorts: “Yeah dad, and I’m sure at 200,000 miles, rainbows shoot out of their butts.” There’s a demonstration of that event as well… kind of. But what we want to know is why the older guy in the urinal have such small… wings. Riddle us that VW! Riddle us that!
“Yeah dad, and I’m sure at 200,000 miles, rainbows shoot out of their butts”
The 60-second spot follows VW’s teaser “Algorithm,” also created by ARGONAUT. Released on January 21, 2014, the teaser presented a glimpse of what the Big Game spot might have looked like if Volkswagen had handed the creative reins over to the brand’s quirky and enthusiastic German engineers, thereby poking fun “at Volkswagen’s perfectionist culture” while “Wings” celebrates the engineers’ “devotion to the design” of VW vehicles.
Before the ad airs this Sunday, the German engineers featured in “Wings” will make their way to social media, where they will attempt to explain the formula behind creating the most entertaining Game Day experience. The engineers will be featured in a series of funny videos across Volkswagen-owned social channels.
Volkswagen will also launch a homepage masthead takeover on YouTube beginning February 3rd. Called the “Internet-ifier 5000”, the effort will encourage fans to remix Volkswagen’s Game Day commercial with some of the web’s most iconic memes (like cats and babies). And since the Wings spot provides so many comedic bits, Volkswagen has turned several of them into GIFs, which fans will be able to share online.
Those wondering how VW came to the 100,000 mile claim, the brand provides the following explanation: “total vehicles with over 100,000 miles per brand based on Wolfram Alpha (www.wolframalpha.com) average mileage per year data and IHS Automotive: Polk global registrations in 49 countries, as of November 2013.”
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