VDub was a parody tagline, used in a short series of commercials for German car manufacturer Volkswagen. As part of a 2006 advertising campaign for Volkswagen, advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky created a series of three television commercials directed by Jonas Åkerlund, starring Swedish actor Peter Stormare as an effete German engineer named Wolfgang, and German model Sonja Wöstendiek as his assistant Miss Helga. The ads were created as a parody of MTV's Pimp My Ride.
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The commercials began airing in late February 2006. Prior to the full launch of the TV campaign, the three 30-second spots became something of an internet phenomenon when popular automotive news website Leftlane News uploaded the ads to video distribution service YouTube. As of early March 2006, the ads had received over two million views on YouTube. Three years later, that number was over 10 million.
Commercials
Throughout the commercials, Wolfgang appears with his blonde assistant, a guest, and the guest's colorful pimped-out vehicle. After insulting the automobile, he then "un-pimps ze auto" by destroying it, and replacing it with a white 2006 Volkswagen GTI, to the surprise of his guest. At the end of the advertisements, Wolfgang flashes a hand sign to create the letters V and W in the same orientation as found in the Volkswagen logo. The hand sign is an imitation of the gang signs popularized by hip-hop culture.