I RATE ADS

jtherkal: The Hoff is in the house! Finally someone cashes in on the Germans love David Hasselhoff joke! But this is only mildly amusing and mildly memorable, which means it’s only mildly effective. Which also means I’m only going to put a mild effort into reviewing it. B-.

sjbooher: I spent my entire weekend watching the NBA Playoffs, which seemed to feature one of these Volkswagen ads, either with Hasselhoff, Shawn Fanning, Bob Knight, or Heidi Klum, on every commercial break. I did not actually listen to any of these until now, due to the glory of DVR, but that matters not. These are still highly effective. In fact, due to the weak, cliche and lazy (Bob Knight throwing a chair? Come on!) writing employed, I’d say it’s better to see these on fast forward (although I do think it is funny when Klum causes the car to blush — ha!). These are visually stunning and invoke the most recognizable Volkswagen symbol, the Bug. I definitely have Volkswagen on the brain after this deluge. However, other than strengthening the brand, I am not sure what is being shilled here… Oh, that is probably due to the “mute” issue. B-.