Deep Dive

Thesis:

            Driving a Volkswagen will make you happy.

Triune Brain:

            The Limbic brain is engaged through the emotional cue of laughter, which it interprets as pleasure, and leads to me also feeling good. The upbeat, positive music playing in the background also engages the Limbic brain, contributing to a feeling of happiness. The Neocortex is engaged at the end of the commercial when the message "It's not about the miles, but how you live them" comes on the screen. The reptilian brain is not very engaged during this commercial, and I think this was intentional. The reptilian brain is helpful for times of danger, or stress, but this commercial is trying to convey calm, joyous feelings- the opposite realm from the reptilian brain.

 3 Shifts/Trends:

Personal shift- I viewed this ad on YouTube, which allows users to browse and  upload videos, but it also allows users to comment and rate what they see. As of this writing, this particular add had over 600 comments. Further, there was a bar that came on the screen, which when clicked, was a link to a Volkswagen site where I could "share my story" and read the stories of other happy Volkswagen customers.

Discursive shift- We don't know what is so funny, but we feel drawn into and a part of each clip of laughter in this commercial. We aren't shown a funny scene, we are thrown into each scene as if we are in on everything with everyone else in the clip.

Epistemological shift- Oddly, this ad is about laughter, but it isn't funny and I didn't laugh while watching it. We don't see what was so funny. But, the sound of laughter coupled with the images of laughing faces did significantly affect how I felt- inexplicably I was happy.

5 "Facts:"

Driving a Volkswagen is like laughing- it feels good. Driving a Volkswagen will make you happy. Everyone laughs, and everyone is happy with Volkswagen. The best way to live is to be happy. The people get progressively older as the commercial goes on, so it's not that its not about the miles, it's despite the miles you can still be happy; your Volkswagen will keep you happy through it all, for a long time to come. Being happy is easy.

3 Principles:

Emotional Transfer- The commercial taps into the wisdom that laughter is contagious. It is trying to have me associate good feelings with Volkswagen. It is literal emotional transfer- like peeling a rub-on tattoo.

"Reality" Construction- What is so funny? It is impossible to tell what is funny in any of the clips- there are no clues as to what happened even a few seconds before laughter. It creates a kind of current of happiness which sweeps you along for the ride before you have time to question it.

 Ownership- It seems Volkswagen owns this commercial, as it was uploaded by the company to its own You Tube channel. I assume that the Volkswagen Group, who is the ultimate owner of Volkswagen (Along with Audi, Porsche, amongst other luxury cars manufacturers), produced this commercial to increase sales of Volkswagens.

5 Persuasive Techniques-   

Humor- The commercial itself isn't funny, but rather centers around the desired outcome of humor- laughter. It also put me in a good mood, another aim of humor.

Plain Folks- No one in any of the clips is famous. These are just everyday people who could be you friend or relative. It helps you feel like you're part of the commercial, because it could so easily be a scene from you day to day life.

Repetition- The same thing happens in each clip, though the subjects change. And each clip is about the same length of time.

Diversion- The commercial makes it seem as if there is nothing but happiness associated with owning or driving a Volkswagen. It conveys ideas far removed from the unhappiness of crashes, traffic jams, speeding tickets, debt, and any of the innumerable other bad things that can happen with and to cars.

Warm Fuzzies- Again, they're tapping into the idea that laughter is contagious. It made me feel happy, watching all of the laughter.

3 Seprite Themes:

Despite the time Seiler spent in Republic on the discrimination of women and ethnic groups on the roadway, there is pretty good diversity in this ad. There a lot of women, almost every other person is a woman. While I'm pretty sure the majority of people shown in the ad are white, a good number of them are non-white, and a majority of those who are non-white are black. Regardless of race or gender, however, everyone shown appears to be upper middle class.

Lutz and Fernandez speak to the fact that car manufactures often portray their vehicles as taking their passengers far off roads, as with the SUV ads in the early 2000s. All the people in this commercial seem to be at home, or at least somewhere they're comfortable (the beach, a familiar restaurant, ect.). If it's really "not about the miles," then it really doesn't matter how far you go, or what environment you end up in, your Volkswagen will keep you comfortable and happy.

Lutz and Fernandez also speak to the fact that car manufacturers market their products by trying to get inside the heads of their customers and try to reflect the ideals of their customers through their advertising, so the customers see themselves as fitting those ideals. This ad, like Socrates, posits happiness as the chief good. We don't see what makes anyone laugh in the ad, but just the fact that they're laughing is good. And anything that makes you happy it seems to say, must be good.