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It’s embracing this nostalgia.”īut the song is also about the creative process, which makes the song and its lyrics resonant for those who remember the 1960s, and those born long after.

“With this song, Volkswagen is taking you back. It was this really cool, hippie brand and it was doing really well,” Boyd said. Simon and Garfunkel released “The Sounds of Silence” in 1964, when VW was in its iconic heyday, maker of the classic Beetle and the Microbus. Instead, the ad tells the story of a company that’s been deep in self-reflection. In VW’s case, that risk involved reminding viewers of the scandal, and having that reminder serve as the lasting impression, alienating potential customers. “It’s a little more sophisticated as a form of persuasion and it’s a bit risky,” he says. “They make the viewer wonder, ‘What is it all about?’ They have to watch and put it all together.” “When they are done well, the viewer feels compelled to watch,” Boyd said. Drama ads are a mini-play unto themselves. Lecture ads tend to be informative, he said, with a spokesperson narrating a sales pitch. “In the darkness, we found the light,” the on-screen text reads, then promises a “new era of electric driving.”īoyd said it reminded him of his doctorate research at Duke University, examining the effectiveness of lecture ads versus drama ads, like “Hello Light.” The news clicks off, and the employee sighs and gets to work, designing a new electric vehicle with sketchbook and pencil, as Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sounds of Silence” begins to play.

The ad opens with a montage of newscasts about the company’s use of illegal software to trick emissions-testing technology that plays as a VW employee arrives in his darkened office.

The automaker’s 105-second “Hello Light” commercial, which debuted last week during the NBA Finals, combines dramatic storytelling with a soundtrack that recalls the company’s 1960s glory days while managing to refer to recent troubles and even signal an innovative future. Boyd III, clinical professor of marketing in the Robert H. That’s what makes its latest ad campaign so surprising-and so compelling, says Henry C. You’d think that even four years after its diesel emissions scandal broke, Volkswagen would be keen to avoid the topic.

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