Although the 2006 American film Little Miss Sunshine made a star of child actor Abigail Breslin, there’s another character in this road movie that deserved a nod from the Academy: the Hoover family’s bright yellow 1979 Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus. The VW breaks down early in the story, and the family has to push it until it gets to 20 mph in order to make it start. Later on, the Hoovers get pulled over by a state trooper because the VW van’s horn gets stuck in the “honk” position and won’t stop blaring.  

Today, the Volkswagen ID Buzz is the successor to VW’s classic bus. First shown as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in 2017, the ID Buzz had its U.S. launch in 2023. Volkswagen designers used the classic Microbus as their inspiration while giving it a lot of modern flair. And it’s electric. The new bus will charge from 5% to 80% in only 30 minutes at DC fast charging stations and will go (without pushing it)  for 250 to 300 miles on a single charge. In 1960, the price for a VW Microbus ranged from $1,995 to $2,885. A new one will set you back a bit more. Starting MSRP on a 2025 ID Buzz is $59,995.

The origin of the VW Microbus is worth a paragraph here. The vehicle was originally the brainchild of a Dutchman named Ben Pon. Pon’s job was importing Volkswagen Beetles into the U.S. and other countries. But he had a eureka moment when he visited a VW production plant in Berlin, Germany. Pon observed the use of squatty, stripped-down versions of the Beetle to transport auto parts from one part of the factory floor to another. Inspiration struck when he realized that such a vehicle could also be used to transport people. When he got home, he sketched out his idea for the first VW bus. In 1950, the first Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus rolled off the factory floor. The VW Bus became identified with American beach culture in the 1950s because it was the perfect size to transport both surfboards and surfing friends. By the end of the 1960s, this unique vehicle had become a symbol for an emerging hippie culture.

Volkswagen has a long tradition for creating brilliant ads, going back to the famous “Think Small” campaign created by Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) in 1959. The brand’s “A Life Half Full” TV spot for the new ID Buzz aligns with that tradition—a collaboration between Johannes Leonardo, lead brand agency for Volkswagen in America, and Epoch Films. The spot treats us to a montage of shots in mouth-watering colors with people doing something we rarely see on TV nowadays: having fun. 

The driver of the spot is a 1956 music track—a song called “Are You Havin’Any Fun?”—sung by the late great Broadway icon Elaine Stritch and originally from a long-forgotten Broadway revue called George White’s Scandals from 1939. This golden oldie becomes new again in the context of the spot. To a bouncy bossa nova beat, the song text poses what for many of us (in these trying times) is a profound existential question:

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Are you havin’ any fun?
What y’gettin’ out o’ livin’?
Who cares for what you’ve got
If you’re not havin’ any fun?

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Music choices are tricky when creating TV advertising. Choosing a tune that’s well known may well result in the kind of consumer recall where the viewer remembers the song but can’t name the product. But the choice here is masterful. Most people viewing this spot will never have heard “Are You Havin’ Any Fun?” but will wish they had because again, it touches on something we never seem to have enough of amid the complexities of 21st century living: fun.

We’ll see if it drives sales. The ID Buzz is definitely not your father’s VW bus. And the $60K price tag takes a bit of swallowing. Either way, this spot wins for me. In a world where so many factions seem to be facing off and baring their teeth, the sm

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