A few months ago, I roared with laughter at a little brochure that was folded inside of my copy of Wired. It was VW’s “Official Back Seat Driver’s Guide,” providing straight-faced tips on how to manage life behind the guy who’s driving. It had that classic look of a manual with spot-on references to how you have to act back there.

I just read another clever piece of copy, this time a magazine ad for the Passat Wagon. It pictures the gleaming white Passat with its useful tailgate open and this text inside:

“You have ‘a thing.’ And no. It’s not your ‘issues.’ Or your ’stuff.’ It’s the one thing you love doing. And maybe even being. Maybe you feel it when you’re plugging in a guitar. Maybe you feel it when you’re sitting in the middle of the ocean, alone. Waiting. Maybe you feel it when you’re taking a load of Little Leaguers to Districts, two states away. Whatever it is, it’s your thing. And it’s always been your thing. Ok, sure. People may share the same thing. But deep, deep, deep down, you know your thing is a little different. (Okay…a lot different.) The Passat Wagon is a thing for people who have a thing, not just things.

So fill it up. Load it up. All 73.7 cubit feet of it. And do your thing.”

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