The people versus humour...

Yesterday, I read with a good deal of amusement, the tumult surrounding a spoof advert for a Volkswagen Polo.

In the advert, a terrorist suicide bomber -- of Mediterranean or North African origin, no less -- steps into his Volkswagen Polo, drives up along side an al fresco dining area, stops and then promptly blows himself up .. himself only, not the car.

The idea being the car is so sturdy, the explosion simply occurs within the confines of the interior of the car. Presumably the car would need a thorough valeting before a second owner could be found.

Anyway, this spoof advert has spread like wildfire across the internet and has landed the producers of this clip in a spot of bother with the lads & lasses from Wolfsburg, Germany.

The interesting thing here is that there are two distinct veins of bullshit being touted by both sides. Along with the canned responses from both parties only adding to the preposterousness of the whole thing, making it all the more amusing.

Speaking in the digital newsletter Brand Republic, Dan (of Dan and Lee; the two guys behind the advert) said: “The ad got out accidentally and spread like wildfire.”

Really. He goes on to add: “We’re sorry if it has caused any offense.”

OK. That’s just bullshit from top to bottom. These guys aren’t that naive, and neither am I or the people at Volkswagen for that matter.

Clearly, they’re angling for some lucrative deal or for the two of them to be ‘headhunted’ (in a nice way) by larger marketing agencies.

Lee refused to say who funded the £40,000 film. He said: “We never really intended it for public consumption but it got out somehow.”

Quite.

So given they spend no less than a rather considerable amount of money on .. what? A portfolio piece? Something for them and their mates to have a good giggle about? Who the fuck are they kidding, here?

When the people at Volkswagen slapped eyes on this, they became quite vocal, also. Spokesman Paul Buckett said: “We were horrified. This is not something we would consider using.”

Oh, of course.

He adds: “It is in incredibly bad taste to depict suicide bombers.”

All standard damage-limitation stuff and publicity-posturing so far.

But then he says: “It gives the impression we have condoned or supported it, and it is potentially damaging to Volkswagen.”

How?

How would anyone come to the conclusion that Volkswagen support terrorism?

Let’s dignify this silliness for a second, step into an alternate universe where such a small car could be tough enough to withstand the full force of an explosion in such a confined space and ask this simple question: if the terrorist knew the car to be so bloody resilient, then why use it the first place?

The car foils his attempt to kill civilians, Volkswagen save the day!

Of course, the people at Volkswagen know this. And I’d wager that the point I make above isn’t lost on them, either.

I’d also go on to say that when they first say it, they fell about laughing.

Either way you slice this, Volkswagen get an enormous amount of PR, non of which is even remotely bad.

So we have the dynamic duo, Dan and Lee lurching towards cult success, fame and fortune and Volkswagen picking up a short but welcome spike in sales.

Everyone wins .. or do they?

“In the advert, a terrorist suicide bomber -- of Mediterranean or North African origin, no less...”

Public perception is further polarized and skewed. A majority are remembered unfavorably for actions of a minority.

Everyone looses...