Mommy Overdrive?
Jody DeVere, CEO/President of AskPatty.com, gives her thoughts on the latest VW ad targeting moms

Volkswagen appears to be pressing the creative marketing-to-mom envelope with their latest campaign for the 2009 Routan.  Celebrity mom Brooke Shields appears in a lengthy "mockumentary" on the company's website (as well as in shorter versions that play out in commercials) where she tries to draw a direct correlation between the recent baby boom and the desire for people to drive the new Routan. We asked Jody DeVere, CEO/President of AskPatty.com, to give us her thoughts (and the thoughts of other moms) on how well this strategy is connecting with today's moms. 

I took a quick survey of my close women business associates (who also happen to be moms) as well as a few Mommy Bloggers and got mixed reactions and reviews about the campaign:

Mother of Two from Northern California:

"I would call it almost abrasive advertising - egad! If it wasn't so poorly written and acted it might have been funny in an edgy way but it is just dumb.  It seems to make an awful lot of fun of the American public's intelligence and sense of privacy if you ask me - case in point:  Reverse vasectomies, fertility treatments - in a car ad! Yuck.  And,  [the video on the site] is 4 minutes too long!"

Mother of two from Florida:

"I've seen the TV commercial on the Routan, it was very comical. The extended version on the website is also comical, but too long. I think VW is attempting to come up with a different route for their commercials...I think it's catchy...Being a mother of two doesn't mean that I'll go out and buy a minivan...regardless of who makes it..But this commercial sticks, I went beyond watching the web version to VW's site and took a tour of the inside of the minivan; the commercial on the website neglected to show the inside of the Routan.."

Mother of Two from Southern California:

"Okay. Well, at 4 minutes too long, it's a happy thing the ad won't be shown on television. Of course it's a parody, but it's a dumb one at that. If only they could have made it even slightly funny in its failed attempt at humor. So many of the other Volkswagen commercials have been clever and funny lately, but I think they just missed their mark on this one. Brooke is gorgeous, but she's not believable here. She's got great hair, but she doesn't do a very good job of selling the van or unselling the van so that people are birthing babies just to get into the van."

A Soon-to-be Mom in Texas:

"German engineering/Chrysler engineering aside it seemed like an ill-executed concept that could have been very funny. I honestly didn't get it at first and then when I got it I kept wanting to laugh, but it just wasn't funny. Additionally, its almost like she repeats "German Engineering" so many times it seems like she is trying to talk herself into believing it, too. I love witty marketing, but this just fell flat for me."

I am a mother of three and have six grandchildren ages 1 – 9.  Personally I found this ad offensive and in poor taste. Sigh… yet another new car ad with sexual undertones and this time aimed at mom of all people, ‘Yuck’, is right.