16. VW Golf: Best left alone

The ad

The ad opens on what appears to be an ordinary Golf in an otherwise empty car park; the soundtrack is the mournful music typically played by radio DJs while reading listeners’ confessional E-mails. The camera pans to show a garish flame motif painted on the car. A succession of modified Golfs is then shown. The final model – which features an enormous bonnet vent – sits on a driveway in the rain, and two raindrops drip from its headlights like tears. “Some things are best left alone,” the caption reads.

The expert view

“There’s a huge truth here – the Golf is best left alone. It is a classic, iconic-looking car, but boy racers have always messed it up. The ad is funny in its sadness rather than sad in itself.”