Hey Slash, why you gotta plug your amp up in that car?
Oct 12, 2006, 04:59 PM | by Annie Barrett
Categories: Advertising, Music
So, Guns N' Roses alumnus Slash (pictured) and Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) are doing Volkswagen commercials. Automatic ''ugh,'' but even after repeat viewings, they're actually not that bad. There's a great riff in Slash's, and Nigel wears a kilt and falls down in his. I still don't understand the spots' target audience -- people who wouldn't mind a new car but are really in it for the free First Act guitar? And that line at the end: ''Rock just like Slash. If you're Slash.'' Ha. But no one is Slash! Only Slash is Slash!
I'm growing tired of the celebrity-infused Volkswagen commercials at this point. The Peter Stormare ones were semi-funny the first time, but I liked VW commercials better when they featured random hipper-than-thou yuppies doing quirky things like moving a smelly armchair (Remember ''Da Da Da''?) and dancing like idiots in an apartment to the chagrin of their stuffy neighbor. They were such blatant attempts at reaching the cool kids that they imploded on themselves, but that's why people responded to them. Years later, I realized I never made the connection that the weird guy in the ''Mr. Roboto'' spot was Buster Bluth! Ah, the memories. Um. Am I really writing a paragraph about the golden days of Volkswagen commercials?
Apparently. And speaking of golden days, Slash's spot does invoke his own. It's not as obnoxious a celebrity plug as it could be. You know, Taylor Hicks for Ford, Regis and Kelly for some bank, and all the A-list actors mentioned in today's New York Times piece on the new respectability of celebrity endorsements. Guess selling out is no longer selling out.
What do you think? Wanna slash Slash for grabbin' a stash of cash? (Nah, you'd probably rather go watch this nine-minute video of ''November Rain.'')
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