All I have to say to the guy in this Volkswagen Jetta spot from Deutsch LA is: Thank God for keyless entry. But wouldn't it be cheaper, and better for your dog, if you got a coathook or something so the little bastard couldn't get at your keys? Or buy him a big car-key-shaped strip of rawhide or something?
This is a very, very funny ad, and was honestly a little bit of a slow burn for your intrepid correspondent, because while I've heard about these keyless-entry automobiles, I've only seen them in action in advertisements such as this one. The guilty look on the dog's adorably ugly face (and kudos to whoever picked the Johnny Cash classic "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog" for this, since the Man in Black was sort of a bulldog in human form, anyway) is its own motivational poster, and the human actor is quite well cast, too.
Director Noam Murro gives us the characters without spending too much time screaming "Volkswagen!" in our faces, which is exactly right for a comedy spot as brief as this one. Setup. Reaction shot. Brief sequence of reproving/ashamed looks between Master and Hound. Animal hospital, where, one imagines, this poor creature is close to filling up his punch card and getting a free surgery. And honestly, I could watch the guy unlocking the door of his VW with his dog's stomach all day long.
I do have to ask, though, does our hero have just the one car key? And why does his faithful companion want to eat it in the first place? It would take a Great Dane to wolf down my key ring, or possibly a bear, and it would have to be a really determined bear. Does Dude work at a pork processing plant, which makes his every belonging smell like bacon?
Ah, well. The heart has reasons that reason knows not of. Or that's what it says in my Volkswagen manual, at any rate.
CREDITS
Client: Volkswagen
EVP, Chief Product and Marketing Officer: Tim Mahoney
VP, Marketing: Kevin Mayer
GM, Brand Communications: Justin Osborne
Advertising Manager: Jeff Sayen
Agency: Deutsch, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Hunter
Group Creative Director: Michael Kadin
Group Creative Director: Matt Ian
Associate Creative Director: Brian Friedrich
Associate Creative Director: Mark Peters
Copywriter: Matt Sherman
Art Director: Paul Oberlin
Art Director: Mike Palese
Director of Integrated Production: Vic Palumbo
Director of Broadcast Production: Victoria Guenier
Senior Producer: Dave Stephenson
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Noam Murro
Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer: Colleen O’Donnell
Line Producer: Jay Veal
Editorial Company: Spotwelders
Editor: Dick Gordon
Assistant Editor: Cudjo Collins
Assistant Editor: Patrick Murphree
Executive Producer: David Glean
Executive Producer: Joanne Ferraro
Producer: Carolina Wallace
Post: Company 3
Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld
VFX/Online: Method
Flame Artist: Pete Mayor
Smoke Artist: Jason Frank
Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Producer: Stephanie Allis
Licensed Music: “Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog”
Composer: Jack Clement
Performed by: Johnny Cash
Courtesy of Columbia Nashville by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment
Sound Design Company: 740 Sound Design & Mix
Sound Designer: Rommel Molina
Executive Producer: Scott Ganary
Audio Post Company: LIME Studios
Mixer: Mark Meyuhas
Assistant Mixer: Matt Miller
Executive Producer: Jessica Locke
Additional Deutsch Credits:
Account Management Credits:
CEO: Mike Sheldon
Group Account Director: Tom Else
Account Director: Chris Carter/Monica Jungbeck
Account Supervisor: Pari Boorer/Amanda Rantuccio
Account Executive: Dani Gordon
Media Credits:
MediaCom
Account Planners:
Chief Strategic Officer: Jeffrey Blish
Group Planning Director: Douglas Van Praet
Senior Account Planner: Nargis Pirani
Account Planner: Bryan Clurman
Traffic/Business Affairs:
Director of Integrated Business Affairs: Abilino Guillermo
Associate Director of Business Affairs Gabriela Farias
Director or Broadcast Traffic: Carie Bonillo
Broadcast Traffic Manager: Sarah Brennan
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