As a child of the mid- to late-20th century, I grew up watching commercials on television and internalizing and then learning to think critically about the structure, flow, and messaging packaged into a successful ad campaign. With that as my background, I love this Volkswagen ad and could write an entire essay analyzing the imagery and messaging it contains.
The background music is a modern cover of Malvina Reynolds' song "Little Boxes," written in 1962, which was popularized in a recording by Pete Seeger in 1963 (and has been covered by many artists in the years since).
According to Wikipedia, Reynolds was inspired to write the song after driving through Daly City, California, and seeing hillsides there covered in houses built in the post-WWII housing boom:
Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
Naturally, the 30-second Volkswagen ad, titled "Best Day" and released in 2025, only utilizes a few lines from the first verse of the song. According to Google, the ad is using Reynolds' own 1967 recording of the song, which maybe seems plausible in the first 10 seconds of the full 30-second spot, but if you listen to Reynolds' recording, there are obvious differences in the sound from the original to what is played in the first part of the commercial. (Here is a video of her performing the song in 1976.) And, since Reynolds died in 1978, it's incredibly unlikely that she would have recorded a punk-rock cover of her own song with the entire world being unaware of it until Volkswagen released it in the latter 20 seconds of its commercial. This led me to wonder who recorded the music used in the latter part of the ad.
There is plenty of speculation online (Reddit, etc.) where others have gone looking for where the 2025 version of the song was sourced for the commercial. One prevailing hypothesis is that the 2025 version is an AI remix, because there doesn't seem to be a legitimate recording anywhere with the punk rock-ish tone of the latter 20 seconds.
The theme of the song "Little Boxes" is a critique of conformity and middle-class attitudes. Let's begin by setting aside the most obvious cognitive disconnect of a commercial (which is created with the intent of generating desire in consumers to purchase a product and thereby fabricating mass popularity and mass consumption of the product) unironically positing that consumers who purchase this vehicle will be examples of unique individuality. We are just going to have to acknowledge and accept that this disconnect is a given.
The scene opens with quick-cuts showing students being dropped off at school and walking up the stairs into the building two by two, set to the sweet, folksy strains of the 1967 version of the "Little Boxes" song, then moves on to our protagonist as she is getting ready for school by putting on her school uniform, including a forest green cardigan, clean white knee socks, smoothly pressed pleated plaid skirt, and a crisp hair bow in a plaid fabric that matches her uniform skirt atop her neatly arranged hair. As she arrives at the steps to enter the school with her backpack squarely worn over both shoulders, she briefly pauses to take one deep breath: inhale, exhale, and onward.
What the audience isn't privy to knowing in that moment is exactly what the protagonist's deep breath represents. There is so much potential meaning built into that fleeting gesture. Is she steeling her resolve to have a good day at school despite knowing in her heart that she is a misfit amongst her peers? Is she (with my apologies to Shakespeare) screwing her determination to the sticking place, that today, at last, she will allow herself to fully be herself in class and stop hiding the reality of her identity behind a mask of social and academic compliance? To me, it doesn't seem likely that her sigh is expressing contentment at arriving at the doorway to a place where she feels safe and happy, even though her facial expression doesn't appear to register any emotion other than some form of optimistic resolve as she is the last pupil to enter the building. But, given the commercial spot's title ("Best Day"), I'm inclined to lean toward believing that the protagonist's sigh is conveying her determination to drop her mask and let herself fully embrace her uniqueness and enjoy her "Best Day" at school unencumbered by the expectations of others.
The hours pass, illustrated by the movement of the trees' shadows on the pavement. The bell rings, announcing school dismissal. The students hurry outside, happy to have their day's work done and ready to be picked up and taken home or on to other afternoon activities.
Then the music changes. No longer sweet and folksy, the soundtrack is now grungy and punky and edgy. Although the tune is upbeat, the unapologetic buzz of the electric guitars leaves no question in the viewers' minds that the mood of the scene has altered.
Again, our protagonist is the last pupil through the door. At first, we see her from behind, her knee socks in disarray, her legs and socks splattered with turquoise blue paint as she stops and plants her feet confidently on the top step, and the action shifts into slow motion.
Three girls from her class sit primly on a bench at the bottom of the steps and turn in unison to look upon the protagonist. The little red-haired girl on the left wears an expression of cautious admiration, while the other two girls gawk with a poorly concealed combination of disbelief and disdain.
Then we see our protagonist from the front. Her green cardigan is gone, and her plaid hair bow dangles askew from her hair that now drapes freely around her shoulders. Her white blouse is splattered with more of the turquoise paint, and the tails of her blouse are untidy and halfway untucked. Her backpack is now tossed casually over only her left shoulder, and in her right hand she carries a treasured art project that clearly is the source of the paint. From her elevated position, she looks to her left, gazing toward the road, watching for her ride to arrive.
The camera cuts away to the street, where we get our first good look at the vehicle that the commercial is attempting to sell, a green Volkswagen Atlas. It's being driven by the protagonist's mother, and she pulls in to parallel park at the end of the school's sidewalk, a pair of bicycles strapped to the rear hatch hinting at the possibility of fun adventures to come.
The camera returns to our protagonist as she walks with her head held high toward her mother and the car, crossing in front of her classmates waiting on the benches on either side of the school's front walkway, including the three girls mentioned earlier. The protagonist's mother is dressed casually but attractively in a sporty sleeveless blouse, cutoff jean shorts, a neckerchief, sunglasses, and sneakers, and she lovingly embraces her daughter before helping her into the back seat.
The next shot is my favorite moment in the entire commercial. The camera returns to the three girls on the bench. The little red-haired girl removes her plaid headband and begins to muss her hair up just a bit. The girl in the middle turns toward her, her jaw dropping as she witnesses her friend casting off the fussiness of conformity and taking a step toward embracing the freedom of individuality, apparently inspired by the courage shown by our now-departing protagonist.
For the final shots of the spot, the camera returns to the car as it pulls away and drives off into the cheerful, sunny afternoon, leaving the other students and even a teacher looking on as the protagonist and her mother drive away.
I have to say, the visage of the red-haired actress on the bench reminds me so much of my grandniece, Grace, so I'm sure that's part of the reason why she is my favorite character in this commercial. But her character is also the one who shows the most progression: She is the one who moves from the relative "safety" of conforming to the standards of her stuffy, in-crowd friends to apparently casting that aside to aspire toward life in a messier but wider world of possibilities defined by individualism.
(Essay is unfinished, still a work in progress.)
