Volkswagen Ranks Among the Super Bowl’s Best of All Time

Jan 25, 2016

As the Super Bowl approaches, anticipation for all facets of the overall event starts to build. There is the game itself, the pomp and circumstance surrounding the entire week, the all-out media circus surrounding Super Bowl week, the viewing parties on Super Bowl Sunday, and of course, the commercials that air during the game itself. Super Bowl commercials are as talked about as the game itself. They are remembered, critiqued, ranked, and some go down as the greatest of all time. With Super Bowl 50 just around the corner, we’ve been seeing some of those critiques and rankings pop up, and sure enough, Volkswagen ranks among the Super Bowl’s best of all time.

The spot was titled, “The Force.” It featured a child in a Darth Vader costume, Composer John Williams’ Imperial March from Star Wars, a 2012 Volkswagen Passat, a father feeding his child’s imagination, and not a single word of dialogue. If you have never seen it, check it out:

The spot was actually released on line the week before the Super Bowl. While most companies kept their Super Bowl commercials under wraps until they are revealed during the big game, seventeen million people had seen The Force before kickoff. The result was that it ended up being the most talked about commercial of the year, and remains the most “shared” Super Bowl ad of all time.
Beyond just going viral, Sports Illustrated ranked The Force as the tenth best Super Bowl ad ever, saying it “ruled the galaxy.” Watchmojo.com ranked it as the sixth best of all time (see video below). USA Today’s Ad Meter ranked it fourth highest. But, taking note of combination of both the online and on air response to The Force, Time Magazine has dubbed it as “the ad that changed Super Bowl commercials forever.”