My Top 5 Favourite VW TV Commercials
We all have that one friend, the one who has absolutely no problem with you driving their car. Maybe not everyone gets to drive but for a selected few, they get to experience the sheer joy of driving something out of the ordinary or special. Volkswagen South Africa invited Performance with Page to come experience their VERY special fleet of memorable cars and this got me thinking. What are MY favourite VW ad moments over the years? Here is MY top 5 list, with some honourable mentions too.
Number 5
If there ever was a manufacturer that can hit us right in the feels, it’s VW. Add to that the now-iconic song by Arno Carstens, some father-son bonding, and you have yourself an all-time hit! I dare you to try not to sing along to this one!
Number 4
VW was, back then known as the Peoples Car, and for many of us, a Citi Golf or Beetle was the car we inherited from our parents or uncles. Some of my first early driving experiences were in my neighbours beat-up Beetle. Her handbrake didn’t work nearly as well as the one in this commercial, but one thing is for sure, this ad certainly did.
Number 3
Many of you might not know this, but thanks to sanctions and strict censorship laws, growing up in South Africa meant not seeing lots of high performance driving on TV. So seeing THIS commercial was a real treat for someone like me who wanted to be a stunt driver. Sarel van der Merwe, also known as Super Van was one of my heroes growing up and was a legitimately world-class racing driver too. So join me and enjoy Super Van doing some handbrake turns in a VW Passat!
Number 2
This ad is one of the reasons I eventually went on to own an MK2 GTi many years later. It had such an impact that I tried to purchase it on VHS from the ad agency that created it. (This was before a simple Youtube search was possible)
Incredibly cheesy, yes, but you knew while watching it that a VW GTi could if need be pull of those manoeuvres.
Honourable mentions
Any one of VW ads with the legend himself David Kramer! David made us want to lace up our veldskoene and travel the countries dirt roads in a Kombi! Also one of VW’s latest Tiguan TV and digital ad campaigns was entirely in isiZulu. It took a long time to happen but VW was the first, and certainly won’t be the last to celebrate more of South Africas 11 official languages in media. Another iconic ad was the VW logo advert where cars were placed in the shape of the VW badge. This was again replicated with people in our number one pick below.
Number 1
If you don’t get goosebumps watching this one, then you need to get your feels checked. VW reminded us that South Africa is made up of diverse people, who love motoring and love our country. I remember watching this with the family and being called into the TV room every time the ad popped up on one of our very few channels. This commercial sums up, in many ways why VW owners and enthusiasts are so incredibly passionate about this brand.
There you have it folks, my list. If you have any more honourable mentions to Ummm, add, comment below and I’ll add it to this post!
Cover pic by Simon Luckhoff
