VW Print Ad Uses DVD

I popped open my Entertainment Weekly last week and inside there was a print ad for Volkswagen. It was no ordinary print ad, however: It contained a DVD under cellophane.

On the DVD was not only an "interactive new Jetta brochure" but also a 6:20 short film called "The Check Up" starring Joe Pantoliano.

I of course had to watch the DVD, if only to see how VW was using the DVD to market its new Jetta.

The short film itself wasn't bad. The premise is a 31-year-old guy gets visited by some G-man-like dude who is checking up on him to see if he's acting like an adult yet.

Pantoliano is a good actor, and he plays the part well. But you keep wondering where this is going. And sure enough, the plot eventually circles around to the fact that this 31-year-old needs a car that's "Grown up. Sort of."

And wouldn't you know it, that's the new Jetta.

This is more than a commercial for the Jetta. This is more like reverse product placement. Instead of placing a product in a film (like getting E.T. to eat Reese's Pieces), we're placing a short film in a product.

Maybe we need some new terminology. Maybe it's not really product placement, but something like "story placement."

Hey, I thought the premise of "The Check Up" was fine: guy has a hard time letting go of his youth. That could work on its own terms, aside from the Jetta angle.

But I just have to wonder about the future--about filmmakers, writers and others who have stories, narratives, things to say.

"Hey, I've got a great story," says the writer. He pitches it to the executive, who then says, "Great, let's see if we can plug it into this product ..."