Fact Check: Spoof video from 2005 being shared as 'Volkswagen terrorist commercial'; here's the truth

A video showing a suicide bomber driving a Volkswagen Polo car to a restaurant is being shared on social media.
The video, which seems like an advertisement by Volkswagen, shows a man in a car. It further shows that even when he tries to blow up the car, it remains undamaged. The video ends with the company logo and a tagline that reads – Polo, small but tough.
“Islamic Terrorist Commercial Ad by Volkswagen …… Interesting” the post caption read.

Here’s the link to the above post.
More such posts can be seen here and here.
The same video was also shared by BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga.

FACT CHECK

English

വസ്തുതാ പരിശോധന: പ്രായമായൊരു മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ വൈകാരിക ചിത്രം റഷ്യന്‍-ഉക്രൈന്‍ യുദ്ധവുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ടതല്ല

Mar 10, 2022

Coronavirus Fact Check

Fact Check: Did Centre Reject ‘Emergency Use’ Approval of COVID-19 Vaccines? Here’s The Truth

Dec 17, 2020

English

Fact Check: Old Pictures Of Indian Flag Being Disrespected Falsely Linked To Ongoing Farmers’ Protest;…

Dec 16, 2020

NewsMobile fact-checked the post and found that the video is a spoof and was NOT commissioned by Volkswagen.
While looking for Facebook posts, we found the same video, which was uploaded back in 2014. This gave us our first clue that the video in circulation is old.

We then ran a keyword search and found the same video on a website Ads of the World.

According to the website, it is a spoof that was aired in September 2005. The website also mentioned the spoof. The site named Lee and Dan as creators of the video, who later apologized, after the company threatened to sue them.

A further search led us to an article by The Guardian dated January 23, 2005. According to the article, ‘The advert was not made for TV but still vent viral in 2005 via emails.’

“We were horrified. This is not something we would consider using: it is in incredibly bad taste to depict suicide bombers,” the article quoted a VW spokesperson as saying.
Moreover, we also found an article by the New York Post dated February 6, 2005, stating that the creators of the video, Dan and Lee, direct legitimate TV commercials for Czar – a New York-based television production company and even though the advertisement was in bad taste, some agencies saw it as ‘raw talent’.

The above information proves that the video is a spoof, created by two individuals and was never commissioned by Volkswagen. Hence, we can say that the video is being shared with a misleading claim.