There are things that are (A) stupid and bizarre, and then there are things that are (B) stupid and bizarre and conceal a hidden genius. That genius is not apparent to everyone.
Example for Case A: I stare in disbelief at those Avis commercials where the people open their mouths wide and a song starts playing as if their mouth is a radio speaker. The pitch is that you get free MP3 downloads with your car rental, or something. The execution of this concept is about 15 steps beyond idiotic. I begin to pity the actors who had to do take after take of opening their mouths wide and looking like morons for a concept that is not in any way funny. There’s no hidden genius here. The marketing firm that came up with this should be fired.
Example for Case B: On the other hand, my own personal take is that any commercial that can have Peter Stormare exclaim, “Oh, snap!” is clearly inspired. Some won’t agree with me, so I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on the hidden genius thing.
About 18 months ago, Volkswagen came up with three TV commercials featuring an almost-unrecognizable Peter Stormare (!) as a hyper-trendy car-testing expert that explains, in the strangest way possible, the virtues of the German-engineered VW GTI over the subject’s currently pimped auto. He does this in a caricature of a strange man trying to connect with an MTV-era youth, using the most grotesque parody possible of a German accent. To call these ads over-the-top would be an understatement.
The results, however, are hilarious. These ads are the perfect send-up of the whole “Fast and the Furious” culture of modified Japanese compact cars and the “Pimp My Ride” movement in general. The ads feature car-destruction as slapstick comedy.
And did I mention Peter Stormare? The performance transcends odd. Here’s an actor who clearly has a sense of humor where you might not have expected it.
The ads had a brief return to television a few months ago. I say bring them back and film more of them. You can watch all three commercials with the YouTube links here:
Ad #1: You got an F
Ad #2: Let me hear you say “vhat”
Ad #3: Oh, snap!
Peter Stormare destroying pimped autos: It do what it do.
No no no no darling….these commercials are not funny! I still can’t believe that you think they are
“We just dropped it like it’s hot.” Oh, thank you so much for bringing this gem to our attention! I live in Canada, and I haven’t seen or heard of these commercials.
Stormare is one crazy Swede. A great actor also. I disagree with Kathy. These commercials are inspired and funny. If more companies made interesting commercials I’d pay more attention to them. Would it make me more likely to buy a VW? Maybe.
Did you see Peter Stormare on CSI last night? His performance seemed to fit the “stupid and bizarre with a hidden genius” description. Reminds me somewhat of Christopher Walken.
I’m not a watcher of CSI, so I didn’t see it. Was it a comic role or a scary weirdo?
Years ago, I remember an ad for a local radio station which had a beautiful woman–tall, with a wide mouth, and she was lip-synching to very short clips from various programs on that radio station. A male voice-over then says, “You have a remarkable mouth.”
And the woman says, “WRIF is a remarkable radio station–BABY!” And the word “baby” is a clip of a deep-voiced male saying the word.
It was memorable, and didn’t seem dumb, and I remembered the station.
But no, I didn’t buy products advertised on the station. Oh, well.
very nice blog thank you guys for sharing with us!
I am a fan of any commercial that is unique and fun… especially ones with celebrities playing a different role!