Source: Adweek
Families in ads are always portrayed in a positive tone. They are a place of safety and love, or in the worst case humorously dysfunctional. Rarely can you see an ad break from the norm and show a more difficult part of family relationships.
Now Volkswagen has issued a 6-minute film from Denmark that does just that – showing a difficult father-son relationship, who take a roadtrip in the father’s old Beetle. From the very start it is obvious that the roadtrip won’t be an easy one, as father and son ddelve into their relationship. The ad ultimately comes to a poignant shift that leaves the viewer both melancholic and warm inside.
The ad was done by the Very Agency, which collaborated with director Sune Svanborg Sørensen, creative director Thomas Pries and production company Shoot Happens. The plot isn’t revolutionary. In fact, it’s fairly commonplace—for an unbranded film. But it’s unusual for a commercial, and the story is skillfully told—with the product’s role in the storytelling particularly clever.
