Nearly 15 years ago, in a galaxy not so far away, Volkswagen and Star Wars joined forces for an iconic Super Bowl ad, “The Force,” and fans are still talking about its impact.
The commercial initially aired on February 6, 2011, in support of Super Bowl XLV, and what began as an ad to sell the Volkswagen Passat became a masterclass in marketing while reminding viewers to tap into their own childlike wonder every now and then.
The ad featured a young boy (played by Max Page) in a Darth Vader costume trying his hardest to use the Force on household items like the washing machine and a baby doll. He is startled when it finally works on his dad’s Passat, not realizing that his father used the remote control to give his son a win.
“It was a seismic cultural event that happened specifically because no one set out to create a seismic cultural event, just a great ad,” Kim Getty, CEO of Deutsch, the ad agency behind the campaign, exclusively reveals the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
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Scroll down for a look back at the memorable commercial — and why the Force is still with Us 15 years later:
Who Was Involved?
Lance Acord directed, Park Pictures produced, and the ad famously featured John Williams’ classic “Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)” score.
Deutsch’s vision came to fruition after a creative team member saw a “photocopy of a little kid in a Stormtrooper helmet [in the] drab photo-copier room” filled with abandoned pictures of different ideas, per Getty.
Why We Remember It
Who didn’t want magical powers when they were little? “At its core, it’s just a beautiful little story about a father and son, brought to life with exceptional craft,” Getty says, “which is really all the original Star Wars saga was, now that I think about it. And that turned out pretty well, too!”
Key Details
Super Bowl ads have always been big business, but a savvy decision by Volkswagen to drop the ad early on YouTube paid off. The timing let folks watch it without other Super Bowl commercials competing for their attention or clouding their perspective.
The ad was viewed 1.8 million times within one day of its release, the Wednesday before the big game. By the time Super Bowl XLV kicked off — a matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers that ended with a 31–25 score — it was up to 17 million views and counting.
In 2013, the industry nonprofit The One Club named it one of the top 10 most influential ads of the past 25 years.
The Aftermath
Child star Max Page went viral in a pre-viral era. He was featured on the Today show and even got to meet the late Star Wars legend — Darth Vader himself — James Earl Jones (Jones died in September 2024 at the age of 93. Among his most iconic roles was voicing the Star Wars villain in six films, multiple TV series and videos.)
The spot also helped “grow a new generation of Star Wars fans,” says Getty, who notes that the franchise was in a lull at the time. The Force Awakens a.k.a Episode VII didn’t hit theaters until 2015, a decade after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Episode III) came out in 2005.
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A New Perspective
Viral Super Bowl ads are a dime a dozen now, but “The Force” might have been “even bigger” if it came out today, Getty muses: “The spot is just such a wonderful, well-crafted human story that would feel all the more refreshing in this age of AI.”
Where Are They Now?
Volkswagen is still churning out iconic ads (including a sequel in 2012 called “The Dog Strikes Back” centering on a sweet pooch!), but it’s Max Page’s story that has continued to captivate fans.
The child actor was born with a congenital heart abnormality called Tetralogy of Fallot, and his fame put a spotlight on the condition.
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Just months after “The Force” aired, he had a pulmonary valve replaced. Since then, Page, now 21, has undergone more than 12 surgeries and become an advocate for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
After his Volkswagen stardom, Page continued to act, playing Reed Hellstrom on The Young and the Restless from 2009 to 2015 and starring in 2019’s Between the Darkness. He is currently an undergrad at Loyola Marymount University in California. No word on what car he drives.
