Volkswagen Reunites Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch to Sell You a Three-Row SUV

Volkswagen picked Saturday Night Live's November 7 episode, hosted by comedian Druski with the Strokes performing, to debut its splashiest ad in months: a reunion of former cast members Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch, built around the all-new 2027 Atlas family. Fey pilots an Atlas through a chain of family mishaps that spirals, almost by accident, into a run-in with Dratch's Atlas Cross Sport, and the spot plays the whole thing like two old friends bumping into each other at the world's most overcrowded carpool line.

The ad is the centerpiece of a bigger "NBC100" push that stretches well past one sketch. Volkswagen and NBCUniversal will park a 2027 Atlas on the floor at NBC's December 10 anniversary special, lean into the brand's booth at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and tie activations to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, essentially buying its way into every big live-TV moment NBC has left this year. It builds on the pair's earlier SNL50 stunt, which brought back "The Californians" with Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig.

None of this is subtle, and it is not supposed to be. A three-row family hauler is a hard sell on charisma alone, so Volkswagen rented someone else's: two comedians who have spent decades making suburban chaos funny, attached to a vehicle built to drive through exactly that chaos. It is a cheaper joke than writing a new one, and for a brand with a long memory of ad missteps, a much safer one too.

Source: NBCUniversal

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →