Internet’s greatest video misfits star in Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad

No company has done more over the past few years to make the Super Bowl a must-see bonanza of advertising than Volkswagen. The kid Vader ad remains one of the most creative spots of the past decade, and last year's "dog strikes back" effort was worthy if not quite as all-dominating. For this year's Super Bowl XLVII, Volkswagen has gone the mashup route, hiring a collection of the Internet's most well-known tantrum throwers to show off their brighter sides. I've never seen Boogie2988 smile before.

This teaser — which runs 30 seconds longer than the actual commercial — features reggae star Jimmy Cliff singing the Partridge Family's "C'mon Get Happy" in a bucolic field of YouTube weirdos, from Debbie who can't stop talking about how she loves cats to amateur political screamer Phil Davidson to a personal favorite, "Winnebago Man" Jack Rebney.

What this has to do with Volkswagen remains the secret saved for $7.5 million — or one minute — of advertising time on the Feb. 3 Super Bowl, all part of Volkswagen's multibillion-dollar push to sell 1 million VWs and Audis in the United States a year by 2018. But it's already an impressive gathering, even to those whose 15 minutes of fame from public meltdowns never seems to run short. As Boogie says on Twitter: "6 years ago no one knew who I was, and today I'm selling volkswagen's."