Volkswagen Super Bowl Ad 'The Force' Goes Viral (VIDEO)

The Super Bowl hasn't even started and one of its coveted ad spots has already gone viral on the Web.

A Volkswagen Super Bowl ad called "The Force" has registered more than 12.5 million views on YouTube, 10,000 comments and 62,000 "likes" with four hours to go until the game. (Scroll down to watch the ad.)

The Star Wars-themed commercial has also already become the most talked about ad on Twitter, according to the site "Brand Bowl 2011."

Deutsch LA Creative Director Michael Kadin told NPR the early jump was intentional: "These days, it's all about getting the content ahead of the Super Bowl so you create a buzz before you get to the game."

Lost Remote notes the genius behind the early release:

While it’s certainly not the first time a Super Bowl advertiser has revealed a spot before the game, it may be the first time the best commercial ran on YouTube before the big game. Now when it airs, many people will explain to their friends that they’ve already seen it — a sort of “reverse recommendation” that carries its own social cache.

WATCH THE AD:

Comments

[fredchannel]

10:03 AM on 02/09/2011

Loved the video! We just monitored its performance for the past 7 days: mentions by region, media type and more. Have a look: http://bit.ly/volkswagencampaign
Best
Fred

[JWebberPhoto]

03:08 PM on 02/08/2011

"People have accused me of being cynical simply because I wasn’t taken in by forced cuteness in a commercial for a giant corporation featuring the intellectual property of an artistically bankrupt blockbuster mainstream film series aired during the single most corporatized sporting event in the history of corporatization."
http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/02/07/lets-talk-about-that-volkswagonstar-wars-commercial#

[Striderxdj]

01:31 PM on 02/08/2011

I just dont get it, this was undoubtably the most overrated commercial for the super bowl. Cute but predictable.

[youngf88]

12:23 AM on 02/08/2011

Great ad with a cute young luke skywaker look-alike.

[BVictor1]

08:00 PM on 02/07/2011

Ahhh...

I love John Williams musical scores.

The commercial was cute, but I like the Snickers one better.

[dartagnan]

04:52 PM on 02/07/2011

Loved this ad. Also loved the Coke ad with the two border guards.

[Lorraine Roe]

04:47 PM on 02/07/2011

Perfect slice of life commercial. As the proud mother of two boys, deep into Star Wars, it rang so true! How many times have my sons ran by me in clone outfits? Love the way little Darth Vader doesn't have time to hug his dad, must go to using the force. Love the subtle way dad makes his dreams come true. Wonderful!

[Jesse Kelly 1]

04:21 PM on 02/07/2011

Really, that's what all the hype was about?

[Hansy Peguero]

08:13 PM on 02/07/2011

I felt cheated.

[theborg]

01:53 PM on 02/07/2011

The Force is strong within you, young Vadar...but...you are not a Jedi yet.

[nevercomplete]

01:33 PM on 02/07/2011

It might not sell the car but it will give little kids everywhere a renewed sense of the "magic" of playing and/or that your parents are really there to mess with your head in a kinda mean way. AND THANK YOU EVERYBODY for expressing outrage at the Timothy Hutton ad. I won't mention the company's name that this outrage was supposed to sell because it would just give them a boost, but I will boycott them and work hard to make surre everyone else does too. Simply unconscionable.

[doctor4kids]

12:58 PM on 02/07/2011

Best Superbowl commercial by a landslide. But will it sell the car?

[bagman29]

11:47 AM on 02/07/2011

Amazing that this commercial captures the magic of the original Star Wars better than any of Lucas' prequels did.

[Xenobion]

11:41 AM on 02/07/2011

I want to buy! But is it starwars memorabilia or a volkswagon?!

[alpina]

10:34 AM on 02/07/2011

I thought this one was very cute but the rest were sub par or worse. The weakest field of superbowl ads in recent memory. Chimps, really?? Pathetic. And yes, Tim Hutton will get credit for being in an ad that in one fail swoop ended a company. You don't have to be Ellery Queen to figure out that that ad was going to blow up in their face.

[nevercomplete]

01:36 PM on 02/07/2011

Fanned

[amro2222]

10:32 AM on 02/07/2011

great ad