Auto-Recall: Vauxhall Plays Hide and Seek in Budapest
zita kisgergely
Via Wikipedia Commons, photo by Christo
Turbulent times evoke different feeling in different people. While most go about their daily business, others fall back into creature comforts like food, libations, and Netflix. Some read. And still others retreat into nostalgia: give in to the media of less complicated times.
So, if this old advert for Vauxhall’s compact auto called the Corsa tugs at your heartstrings, you may be in the later category. Here we can indulge in nostalgia with so many layers it could be a cake. Foremost, the car is a niche favorite with drivers. But for those who are more familiar with local scenery, it provides a small nostalgic thrill to see that the ad revels in Budapest’s decrepit side. This was 2001, before EU and money from real estate developers overtook the city-wide renovation the facades of the elegant apartment blocks of Pest. The graffiti, the crumbling exposed brick, the colorlessness — despite how all this sounds — did give the city a certain romantic charm, the way a bouquet of dried roses can be as alluring as fresh-cut flowers. Fans of Brutalist architecture know what we are talking about. Of course, half the point of the monochrome scenery is to make the colorful little cars pop as they navigate portions of Budapest cars don’t normally go, in their game of ‘hide and seek’ (including a trash removal container and, the Danube).
Keen connoisseurs of culture will also note that the soundtrack is the song “Sensitive Touch” by English indie icons The Fall. This was from the era when advertising found pop and punk music to be the most effective soundtrack to car adverts, most memorably exemplified by Sting’s song “Desert Rose” in Jaguar ads.
We’d love to find a connection the Fall have to Budapest, but outside of their sense of pride in being different, there might just not be one. But that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying this old advert and basking in the warm golden rays of the past. The cars are hidden, but enjoyment is where you find it.
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