PoloDriver

We already thought that Volkswagen had pulled out all the stops marketing the new Polo in both the UK and European advertising campaigns. But, the headline stats at the end of this new video posted by the production company for the making of the ‘Ready For A New Class’ pan-European TV commercial make for interesting reading.

For a start, the spot was shot in Los Angeles (the car’s not even sold in the US, but rumours persist that it could be, so is this why two Polos were shipped there) in May of this year, using 10,370 metres of film. There were 115 crew members, who consumed 976 burgers and 1,643 cups of coffee and cumulatively travelled over 155,000 miles.

Seventeen locations provided backdrops for 20 actors and the whole shoot lasted 60 hours. Anything else? Oh yes, two identical red five-door Polos and one P!nk soundtrack. Not surprisingly, no budget figures are mixed in with all the other stats, but we can see why Volkswagen has used the same basic footage for all markets and adapted the marketing message for each territory.

Watch through or skip to 03:36 for the finished commercial.

How’s this for a bit of nostalgia? While wading through online pages last week, we stumbled across this low-tech piece of advertising magic promoting the then new Series 2 Polo. Aired in 1982, the hatchback had been around for a year, and the Classic (Saloon) was about to hit the UK.

Starring Burt Kwouk of James Bond and Pink Panther movie fame, it promotes the safety features of the new car. Kwouk was a star that Volkswagen used frequently around the time of this commercial; eighties strongman Geoff Capes was another.

But, a quarter of a century on, it’s all very different. Just compare Kwouk’s ad to this one for the new Polo, which had its first UK airing a couple of weeks ago. It was safety and traditional values back then; lifestyle, youth and technology now.

[Thanks to: reich967]

The first UK TV commercial for the new Polo aired this week. Virtually unchanged from the German ‘Ready For A New Class’ spot, the UK’s ‘Timeless New Polo’ ad is also soundtracked by Pink’s Bad Influence, a seemingly good choice for the pan-European campaign.

This model seems to be aimed at a younger audience (hence the Moda trim level in the UK), and this commercial was slotted into a break in Monday night’s Ugly Betty. Similarly, some of the press ads are also in women’s magazines – another target market for the car.

After the contemporary ‘Neon‘ Pink-soundtracked and ‘Ready for a new class‘ new Polo commercials comes this retro-styled one. You have to ask if anyone in Volkswagen’s marketing department had watched Grease the weekend before the campaign meeting?

(Thanks to German Car Scene.)

This pair of commercials are a little different to the usual Volkswagen type of advertising. Still playing the humour card, but to much less an effect, they’re promoting the outgoing Polo BlueMotion, under the ‘Selected Volkswagen’ banner.

(Thanks to German Car Scene.)