I'm late to the party, but that commercial got in my mind and under my skin for a while; I couldn't figure it out. The narration is the kid is racing his buddies home. But the visuals show the little guy running from bigger kids; hiding at a tree and looking behind him, and then diving into a minivan for refuge. And his buddies don't do any high-fives or "good race". This is not a friendly race among pals.Mike Frezon said:/forum/thread/230022/commercials-that-just-irritate-you/510#post_3739239
I just figured the kid must get beat up and chased home from school a lot and this time mom was ready?
What I concluded was the original ad, pitched and filmed, was of a kid taking refuge in the mini-van. He's running from bullies and gets home to safety just in the nick. And the ad would tout the safety, comfort, and other castle-like virtues of the minivan. But after completion, but before going national, they realized what a monumentally stupid idea it was to pitch a minivan ad centered around a kid running from fear of bullies. The ad already shot and ready to go on the air, they cut the dialog, put a new framing narration to spin it as a fun race, and put it on the air.
It's a really strange ad. I wish I could get learn if my speculation is true.