Nigel takes it to 11 in VW commercial Jalopnik has posted the new Volkswagen commercial starring Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, standing atop a VW vehicle that could be none more white. This follows the earlier VW spot with Slash from Guns N’ Roses. “This amplifier has airbags!” Tufnel says. Christopher Guest, of course, is probably better known for making commercials than being in them. I’m not sure what he’s done lately, but I enjoyed the ESPN commercials with “The Rick,” which Guest directed in the late 1990s. —Posted by Tim Nudd

October 12, 2006 | Permalink

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Comments

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Wow, what a shitty reason to sell the car. A great stereo. Crispin is getting a lil reckless

Posted by: Obvious | Oct 12, 2006 1:24:23 PM

ok crispin ... we get it. we all get it.
i wasn't sure after cock rock, but this seals the deal:

you are rockstars

Posted by: hater | Oct 12, 2006 2:41:28 PM

Surprisingly lame. I love the promotion of a VW that you can plug a free guitar into, but it seems there are 100 better ways to sell it than this.

Maybe if it was the rest of the band playing a Jazz Odyssey for 35 or 25 minutes....

Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Oct 12, 2006 4:33:54 PM

pure style. spinal tap rules. definitely getting reckless when the goal is to appeal to a cult movie following though.

tufnel wails, though.

Posted by: tom | Oct 12, 2006 5:14:02 PM

This ad makes me sad on every level. I don't even want to bother naming all the levels, but there are many.

Posted by: okay. | Oct 12, 2006 6:33:42 PM

how old are you people who don't like it? it's probably not geared for you. if you were in college, or even a tad younger and discovering spinal tap for the frst time and still dreamed of being a rockstar, you might just want a vw.

Posted by: SmallAxe | Oct 13, 2006 1:26:20 PM

Well, SmallAxe, assuming that these commercials are targeting people in college -- "or even a tad younger" -- then it's reasonable to ask how many of them are "discovering" Spinal Tap. Look, I love the movie, too -- but it's 24 years old. That's older than most of the people VW is ostensibly trying to reach. The film will always have a cult following as new generations discover it, but do you honestly think the typical 22-year-old knows who Nigel Tufnel is? Even Slash hasn't been relevant since 1993. If VW's going to go this route, couldn't they afford someone more relevant?

Posted by: James Fleener | Oct 13, 2006 2:00:54 PM

Spinal Tap was a sweet movie but its kinda funny they picked a fake band for the ad

Posted by: Fred | Oct 14, 2006 7:19:21 PM

This promotion will be huge! The 18-34 caucasian demographic loves electric guitars!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7YSGh5mm3I&eurl=

Posted by: doane | Oct 16, 2006 2:09:44 PM

If they want to appeal to the guitar player put some Herman Li or Yngwie on there. Spinal Tap does rule though.

Posted by: Shredxzord | Oct 17, 2006 10:02:47 AM

Whether young viewers remember spinal tap or not doesn't really matter, because this ad isn't funny or interesting anyway.

To those who've never seen spinal tap, it's just a guy playing guitar for twenty seconds and then he says some goofy line and falls down. To those who have seen spinal tap, this is a poor imitation of their favorite movie lacking the wit and charm of the original.

Posted by: VWcritic | Oct 18, 2006 2:59:55 AM

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