Volkswagen's 'Kids Dreams' Ad Uses Childhood Fantasy to Sell Safety

Volkswagen's new 'Kids Dreams' campaign, created by German agency Grabarz & Partner, subverts the traditional car-as-status-symbol trope by focusing on children's fantasies. The 60-second spot, which won seven awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2017, features kids dreaming of high-end cars like Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bugatti, and the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future, while a Volkswagen Golf 7 with collision avoidance technology prevents an accident. The ad uses Gordon Lightfoot's 1971 song 'If You Could Read My Mind,' covered by the Belgian choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers in 2007. The tagline 'Difficilmente un bambino sogna una Volkswagen' (A child hardly dreams of a Volkswagen) is followed by 'Continuiamo a lasciarli sognare' (We keep letting them dream), positioning the brand as a responsible adult choice for safety and reliability. The article was published in Artribune Magazine #41.