Volkswagen "The Bark Side"

I am impressed by the Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial teaser.  "The Bark Side" and its television premiere were both great examples of product placement and viral videos.

The commercial first aired during an episode of "The Middle" on ABC on Wednesday.  The episode's storyline was about the Super Bowl in Indianapolis and featured the Volkswagen Passat.  This is a great example of integrating multiple types of marketing.  Volkswagen used the perfect episode to feature its vehicle and show its new commercial.

"The Bark Side" currently has over five million views within four days.  The video is already going viral, but Volkswagen had to find a way for its video to stand out among the increasing number of viral videos.  Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow for quick and easy sharing of YouTube and Vimeo videos.  The marketing team at Volkswagen was able to create a video that built upon the success of its past Super Bowl commerical, "The Force."

Volkswagen seems to have found a theme that works in its videos.  Star Wars is universally known and can be used to bring up emotions from years past and feelings of amazing storytelling and quality.  The use of children and dogs is also not an accident.  Many of the most popular YouTube videos include either small children or dogs.

Volkswagen has created another commercial (or commercial teaser) that has gained widespread attention and is liked by almost everyone who views the video.  Unlike other viral videos that might have gained attention through sheer luck, this commercial's success is anything but luck.  Volkswagen has shown that it is possible (twice) to create viral commercials based on research and understanding consumer behavior.