View Full Version : Someone at VW likes us.
Did anyone see the new VW commercial with the dude on the road bike going down a series of winding roads at night when his light fails. Two cars end up blowing by him and the 3rd car stays behind him. The cyclist waves the car ahead but he stays behind him with these neat steerable lights and basically guides him at like 40mph down the mountain to the nearest intersection.
Was the cyclist on a TREK? The commercial isn't on VW.com yet. I'll keep an eye out on the dub boards.
As You Like It
09-18-05, 11:03 PM
I think there have been somebodies at VW who have liked cyclists for a long while. Back in the mid-1990s (http://www.trekbikes.com/inside_trek/about_trek/timeline/), there was a special Trek edition Jetta which came with a roof rack and a Trek bicycle. Apparently this is still going on? (http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosconsumer/0311/05/g03-316447.htm) The article linked above is from '03. I thought the Trek Jetta only was around during the mid-late 1990s, but maybe not. Dunno, I was never interested in owning a Jetta. I like my Volkswagens a lot older, a lot rounder, and a lot more air-cooled.
It seems the Trek 850/930 crossbreed (http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/bicycles/1276806.html?page=2&c=y) that came with the Trek Jetta is quite a lot like the old Trek 800 that I have had since 1997.
slagjumper
09-19-05, 05:37 AM
Someone at vw wants to sell us cars. They've come a long way from being the NAZI car of the people. Could be I am just jealous since I own an old Ford Exploder and really would like to trade that in for a Tornrag or what ever they call their new suv. I remember when BMW made a bike. Also what about all those Nissan commercials with the mountain bikes in the back.
Meanwhile, someone at McDonalds is not so enthused about us...anyone seen the ad where a young guy, upon winning a car w/his peel-off sticker, hurls his bike over a fence and into the river?
SamHouston
09-19-05, 06:16 AM
It might just be advertising.
Do you forget the VW ad that harped upon the strength of the doors....with an image of a just opened door and a cyclist about to hit at speed? "MY door won't be hurt, hahahaha" (my words in quotes)
superdex
09-19-05, 06:33 AM
The irony is in real life, the guy on the bike would be pissed that the car didn't go around when waved, wouldn't get that the VW driver was just helping out, then would come onto BF and complain about some stupid driver in their new veedub. I like the commercial though :) --I was hoping the driver would end up being Lance, but then remembered he has that pesky Subaru contract....
(I drive an '04 Passat)
oboeguy
09-19-05, 06:55 AM
Meanwhile, someone at McDonalds is not so enthused about us...anyone seen the ad where a young guy, upon winning a car w/his peel-off sticker, hurls his bike over a fence and into the river?
Yes I was going to post about that. Really stupid, IMO.
The VW ad sounds awesome!
Someone at vw wants to sell us cars. They've come a long way from being the NAZI car of the people. Could be I am just jealous since I own an old Ford Exploder and really would like to trade that in for a Tornrag or what ever they call their new suv. I remember when BMW made a bike. Also what about all those Nissan commercials with the mountain bikes in the back.
Volkswagen wasnt the "nazi" car of the people. The original "Volkswagen" was the beetle created by Ferry Porsche. This was before the modern "Volkswagen AG" car company was formed. Any connection is in name only.
Besides if you were to go around an chastise any German firm involved with the 3rd Reich, youd have quite a few, including BMW, Benz, Siemens, Krupp and a host of others. Given that Hitler was running the show, those companies had no real choice when it came to supplying materiel for the war.
timmhaan
09-19-05, 10:13 AM
yeah, that VW commercial is pretty good. when i first saw it i was expecting the driver to tear around the cyclist in a demonstration of the car's acceleration, handling and the amazingly loud decibel level of the horn.
Mr. Miskatonic
09-19-05, 10:21 AM
I got a glimpse of it too. My thought about the biker was: His lights go out, and he doesn't pull aside (and hide) every time a car's lights appear in his mirror? I mean nice sentiment about the driver helping him see and all, but I know how I ride if my lights go kaput.
And the cyclist had a nice road light, too.
cheebahmunkey
09-19-05, 03:10 PM
Besides if you were to go around an chastise any German firm involved with the 3rd Reich, youd have quite a few, including BMW, Benz, Siemens, Krupp and a host of others. Given that Hitler was running the show, those companies had no real choice when it came to supplying materiel for the war.
you forgot one large company that "dealt" with Hitler. Ford Motor Company. Now, they didn't supply them during the war but Ford was very sympathetic to the Nazi cause (before the war broke out).
Santaria
09-19-05, 03:30 PM
Henry Ford visited Adolf Hitler numerous times and was a well known sympathizer to the cause until..gasp...it was taboo.
The commercial rocked. Personally, I've been a VW fan since I was 3 and my Mother drove me around in her white bug. The interesting point of the commercial was that it sorta put a human face back on AG, who has recently pissed off a lot of the air-cooled fans...who typically are the same folks who have hobbies, lifestyles...that are bike-centric.
If it were me on the bike I think I would get a little ticked off. When most cars pass me at night their headlights make my prescription glasses glare up so I cant see. If he is going to follow me that close I'd have to take my glasses off, then I really cant see anything cuz it would be a blur.
I got a glimpse of it too. My thought about the biker was: His lights go out, and he doesn't pull aside (and hide) every time a car's lights appear in his mirror? I mean nice sentiment about the driver helping him see and all, but I know how I ride if my lights go kaput.
And the cyclist had a nice road light, too.
It looked like a niterider dual.
Brian Ratliff
09-20-05, 11:07 AM
Is it any suprise that VW is bike friendly? First of all, they're German, and Germans bike more than us. Second of all, they are title sponsers of a US professional mountain bike team (together with Trek).
I saw the ad. It was great. I would hate to be the cyclist in that situation.
It's a pretty cool commercial and I like VWs, but if I was that guy, I'd be scared ****less wondering why the psycho is trying to run over me.
luckysnafu
09-20-05, 12:50 PM
I saw the commercial a few times, and the first thing that came to me was why doesn't the biker have a REAR light????? I would think riding in the pitch black at night you would be smart enough to have a rear light. How is a car behind you going to see you if you don't have a rear light. Very dangerous IMHO and I think VW should have had the biker with a rear light.
...How is a car behind you going to see you if you don't have a rear light... Maybe that was part of the AD too. It was not only advertising the car but a new feature of the car ... the directional headlight that sees around corners. Maybe with this new feature, the driver spotted the cyclist well ahead of time so the cyclists didn't need a tail light. Yeah ... that's the ticket.
d.tipton
Yeah, nothing is by coincidence in commercials..
Lecterman
09-20-05, 07:53 PM
I haven't seen the commercial as I don't watch TV. Is there a link to it anywhere?
Besides if you were to go around an chastise any German firm involved with the 3rd Reich, youd have quite a few, including BMW, Benz, Siemens, Krupp and a host of others. Given that Hitler was running the show, those companies had no real choice when it came to supplying materiel for the war.
Don't forget American companies like Union Banking Corporation, Holland-American Trading Corp, and Seamless Steel (all managed under Prescott Bush's watchful eye (the president's granddaddy). Also Chase Bank, du Pont, and Standard Oil.
Iguess since VW sponsors teams, not surprising they'd have a bike-friendly ad. I haven't been able to determine what bike it is- probably a trek but the logo is probably blacked out. I wonder who the cyclist is? I also can't imagine why anyone would be nuts enough to go out riding at night on that kind of road!
the1jzahn
09-20-05, 08:11 PM
I have never seen a tv AD that has been critequed so much.
SamHouston
09-21-05, 06:28 AM
I can't imagine anyone getting the feel that being tail gated down a mountain by a stranger at night is bike friendly...outside of a tv ad. BUt I have seen more critique and discussion over a car ad. The VW ad I mentioned, which sympathized with car owners whose open doors are damaged by cyclists who didn't have time to stop, earning a door prize.
There was also a US auto ad that suggested corporate america shouldn't utilize bicycle messengers in big cities at rush hour, because it'd be faster to get there on their own in a new SUV.
I have never seen a tv AD that has been critequed so much.
Actually, i've read books and articles doing just that- where they critique ads.... it's all part of our popular culture landscape!
Bikepacker67
09-21-05, 06:56 PM
How many American companies supported Stalin?
heckflosse
09-22-05, 05:21 PM
Maybe that's why these where used as team cars for the Tour-de-france back in the 60s :)
http://www.carsoffrance.com.au/index.php?action=productcatalogue&prodcat_id=135&prod_id=3284
heckflosse
09-23-05, 04:11 AM
I like VWs...
So do I.
I'd love this to be my next project, except somebody at VW put the steering wheel in the wrong place :D
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-SPLITSCREEN-CAMPER-1958_W0QQitemZ4576116550QQcategoryZ18303QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
SoonerBent
09-23-05, 04:58 AM
I like VWs...
So do I. Especially my New Beetle Conv. w/ 1.8 Turbo. Fun,quick, and 25 mi.per gal.
SS
As You Like It
09-24-05, 08:27 AM
I like VWs...
Me too. I've got a 1959 Type 1 in a chronic state of restoration-in-progress.
Brian Ratliff
09-30-05, 11:18 AM
A car "VW'ed" me today on my commute into work. I ride now before sunrise and it was dark and raining today. I have a hill which is long and steep (can take me up to 55mph if I let it) which I go down on my commute TO work (I take an alternate route back). Anyway, today a car followed me all the way down the hill at 40 mph, blocking a line of cars from passing me. How nice is that? I wonder if the commercial had anything to do with it.
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