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Clint Eastwood in Top 6 Super Bowl 2012 car commercials (+video)

4. The Bark Side

  • By David Clark Scott Staff

Unless you've got a good ear for canine choral groups, you may have to listen for a few seconds before you catch the familiar tune: John Williams' "The Imperial March" from "Star Wars."

Yes, Volkswagen has turned to The Force again (not too surprising given the success of last year's Super Bowl ad).

This one isn't nearly as cute. Yes, they try with doogie wookie, doggie ewok, and doggie AT-AT. The 12 canines were cast not for their voices but for their looks (how Music Video of them). The final track was "a mix of archived dog barks and yelps recorded on set rounded out by newly recorded woofs and howls – a number of which were later pitched to match the actual tune. One of the biggest challenges was the balancing act of using unaltered dog barks and digitally enhanced ones. The final mix featured a combination of both," according to  Automotive News.

Volkswagen says this isn't actually an ad for a product.  It's an online ad designed to create buzz for VW's Super Bowl ad. The canine choir was a teaser intended to send viewers to a site where they can invite their friends to Super Bowl parties. "The Bark Side" is about "giving you enough information to whet your appetite. It would be a strange teaser if it didn't reflect what was coming," said Mark Hunter, chief creative officer for Deutsch, Los Angeles.

What showed up on the Super Bowl was a vignette about a dog getting into shape so he could chase a 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, which dissolved into an homage to the bar scene in Star Wars. Get it? Dogs and Darth Vader. See the second clip below. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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