This post is also available in: Spanish
Image from the VW Passat commercial
Sometimes a very simple concept for a commercial results in a rewarding 30 second spot. The newest campaign from VW Passat features two men embarking on a road trip, and one of them brings nothing but a ‘Learn Spanish’ tape for the men to listen to. We see the men drive far and wide, we hear them practice “Vámonos” and “Gracias” with pronounced accents, and then much later, at night, they both leave the car at a gas station. One angrily says “Trece horas en el carro sin parar y no traes música” (“Thirteen hours in the car and you don’t bring any music!”), while the other one replies, “Mira entra y cómprame unas papitas” (“Hey, get in there and buy me some chips”). The Spanish is spoken fluently, using good grammar, slang words (“papitas” for potato chips), and native accents.
This ad makes me smile every time I see it, mostly because, as someone who is bilingual, I like hearing a little Spanish and English spoken together on TV. As someone who has grown up bilingual, I never thought there was anything incredible about speaking two languages (although three really blows my mind). Nevertheless, I have often encountered monolinguals who are astounded at the fact that one brain can hold two languages. “How can you switch back and forth like that?!” they say. This ad seems like it was created to appeal both to bilinguals who don’t need to read the subtitles, and also to monolinguals who think that learning a second language requires a thirteen hour car ride listening to language-learning tapes. Wow, they entered speaking one language and exited speaking another. It’s like magic! I applaud Passat for creating a simple, humorous ad with broad appeal.
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