I can’t decide if I like these or not. Some are definitely funnier than others.

I’m soooo disappointed!

A VW Caravan?

Ewwww! Have you guys checked the price too, one of these babies could get my babies though multiple years of college.

I think VW could’ve done better, especially when the caravan is lacking positive publicity. I would’ve sought out Hyundai’s van before this.

I think it is sick that VW would liken buying a van to having fertility treatments. It is bad enough that so many people have trouble concieving but to have it made fun of by Brooke Shields and VW is insulting

I agree with Jan. I find these commercials to be extremely offensive and insensitive.

these commercials are hideous and need to be taken off the air - fire the agency

Man! I’m glad someone else thinks these commercials stink.  What the heck Brooke?  How could someone who has gone through the rollercoaster of infertility exploit this very sensitive issue to sell cars?  Maybe I’m over reacting, but I hate the commercials and want to sell my VW.

They’re ads and they doing what they are supposed to do—attracting attention.  We’re all gonna know that VW has a microbus. (Were they the first or am just caught in a purple haze?) The first few times I saw the ads, I thought ‘what the hell?’  And then I thought, “how refreshing—shake up my brain”.  OK, so the fertility thing may be insensitive but overall the ads cause one to pay attention which is a big improvement ove most of what one sees on the tube.

These commercials are not only stupid and offensive, they take away the up to now good name of VW.  YOU ONCE HAD THE BEST COMMERCIALS IN THE INDUSTRY WHEN YOU WERE WITH DOYLE DANE AND BERNBACK many years ago, never mind the spelling. Your reputation is on the line.  I have supported the industry for many years, I am a senior citizen and I am not to be taken lightly.  For your own sake, give up the really dumb shit you are doing now, if necessary, find a better ad agency,or even an independent ad writer.  I would like to recommend a young man with a degree in art and advertisement. His name is Alric Balka and he works in Spokane, WA his work phone is 800-462-8418, email is he may wonder why you are contacting him, just say he has a friend who cares. And he is very very talented, I have seen his art work and know he has a passion for advertisement, you would do well to contact him. /thank for letting me talk.  Barbara

To Dick—ads are not just supposed to attract attention, they are supposed to SELL something. All these ads have done is sicken me and everyone else I know. They are bizarre and have actually turned me off of VW as a brand. They are remarkable for their idiocy, and I have to wonder at Brooke Shields for agreeing to do something so stupid.

As someone who suffered infertility and respects Brooke Shields for her honestly and her body of work as an actress I find the ads to be just what they were intended to be: advertisement.  I understand how some might find them offensive but better that it comes from Brooke who suffered from intertility than from someone who never went through it.  Its a joke people, a gimick.  Brooke is making light of the fact that those who are expecting run off and buy minivans - that’s it.  Anyone who pays attention knows she isn’t really saying people will get pregnant just for a car.  Please, stop worrying so much about a car commercial and worry about bigger issues in the world, we have plenty of them to worry about!

I think these ads are horribly offensive to anyone who’s struggled with infertility.  Despite the years that Brooke spent fighting her own infertility, I guess all her sensitivity to others facing the same struggle disappeared with a royalty check from VW.

Also, I don’t get the ads, because they seem to insult the women they are supposed to be selling to.  Are they aimed at the woman that manipulates her hapless husband into starting a family?  Or the gold-digger who married her man for his ability to purchase designer cars for her?  Or the soccer mom who doesn’t want to drive the same van as all the other soccer moms because she’s better than them? 

Good ads don’t generate negative publicity.  This series is a loser, in my humble opinion.

These commercials are a disgrace.  They insult women and families.  Volkswagen should remove them from television.

Worst TV commercial creative in a long time. So obviously repulsive and offensive to people with fertility issues (like my household) and to anyone with half of a functioning brain. 1 out of 10, 1 out of 4, whatever the % of population why a company would spend millions on dollars on TV spots that guarantee tens or hundreds of thousands of people to harbor negative brand feelings is beyond me.

Normally I would think this was a case of Los Angeles/NYC companies / ad agencies being too clever for their own good and missing the mark like so many commercials do, here it appears to VW USA is based in VA now and their creative agency is in FL.

I plan on sending correspondence voicing my disgust to those involved:

Volkswagen
2200 Ferdinand Porsche Drive
Herndon VA 20171

VP Prod Mktg & Strategy Toscan Bennett 703-364-7000
VP Mktg Tim Ellis 703-364-7000
CEO, EVP Volkswagen Brand Stefan Jacoby 703-364-7000
Director Press and Public Relations Steve Keyes

Crispin Porter + Bogusky
3390 Mary Street Suite 300
Miami, FL 33133
Laura Bowles
VP Group Account Director
305-859-2070

And here I just thought they were funny… It never occurred to me that anyone could find a clearly tongue-in-cheek ad offensive. I can say that one of the first things I did after I found out I was pregnant is run out and buy a minivan. The ad is poking fun at me and others like me. I recognize it as a joke and I do what people do with jokes: I laugh.

I wanted to like the brook shields commercial but felt uncomfortable at the confrontations.  They order on harassment and are very unpleasant. The only reason I watched it them was because of the wonderful ads by DDBO with real humor many years ago.  (Signed) Senior citizen who pans to buy it regardless of the ad -it’s the only minivan available in bright red these days.

I’m with Barbara - ditto - the whole ad line is offensive to women in general. First, does a woman have to be pregnant to get a vehicle? No. Does she need to sleep with a man to get a vehicle? No. Spin on soccer mom vans? No—just more German arrogance. German engineering = German Genetic engineering and remember that was all about the..you guess it..the men. BOYCOTT

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED WITH AN ADVERTISEMENT AS THE ONE WITH BROOKE ACTING LIKE SOME SORT OF A DEMIGOD!!!  BAD!!!

I saw this commercial 2 times during a show on television 2 nights ago. I was kinda shocked. It reminded me of one of those annoying tellamarketing calls, they don’t listen, but talk over you, unless you say, is this a recorded message. This is most shocking indeed, just 2 days ago I found this most tastey tidbit on the internet about the Germans promoting sex ed for children, 1 to 3 years old !
I was searching for propaganda on the internet and found this article about German Government Promoting incest.
here is the link to that article.
http://elliotlakenews.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/german-govt-promoting-incest/

All you people spouting off about how offensive the VW Routan commericials need to get a clue, then a sense of humor, then a life! It’s called satire! Some of you probably thought Jonathan Swift was advocating eating babies.

Wow.  I am surprised by the level of vitriol thrown out by some of the people posting on this site.  You guys are completely over-the-top.  It’s an ad campaign making fun of young pregnant couples who run out and buy mini-vans; it is not some insult to those of you who are infertile. 

Seriously.  Think about it for a while and don’t take as some personal commentary about you or your own difficulties getting pregnant.

Ok… those who do NOT understand how this can be offensive.  Let’s look from a different perspective.  Suppose that a new wig company did a huge marketing campaign about how people were going through chemotherapy just to have a reason to wear the wigs.  Would it be funny then?  Infertility is a serious and heart-breaking condition that I wouldn’t wish on anyone else.  If you haven’t been there, you can’t understand.