bubble boy.

Volkswagen "Bubble Boy" Ad, 2002.

It's a rare moment when a commercial ad transcends the world of commercial advertising to touch truth, but if there's a company out there with the ingenuity to pull it off, it's Volkswagen. VW's "Bubble Boy" ad emerged in 2002 as a teaser for the then-new Beetle. Boasting a cinematic edge highlighted by jump-cuts and split screens and a soundtrack celebrating Electric Light Orchestra's finest tune, the ad packs the aesthetic impact of an entire film into a single minute. The ad depicts multiple days in the life of a young office employee trapped in an existence defined by endless routine. As we follow him through the countless cubicles, coffee cups, and clerical chores of office life, we feel his resignation to a life of meaningless repetition.

And then he sees something that changes everything. A glimpse of the very product they are advertising: the new Volkswagen Beetle. For him, it represents fresh opportunity. It breaks his mundane regimen of walking down the nondescript corridor from point A to point B. It gives him a renewed sense of hope and meaning in life.

Of course, it is just a car, but that is the whole point of advertising. And what makes this ad transcendent is that you don't even have to believe that this car will save him from his routine life to be affected by it. Hope is universal, and it is found in any array of experiences, not least a modest car commercial.