''Changes'' is a British

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

launched in 1987 to promote the second-generation of the

Volkswagen Golf The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/ small family car ( C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplate ...

. The 50-second ad was directed by

David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Bailey has also directed several televisio ...

and stars the model Paula Hamilton as a woman throwing away some of her possessions. After discarding her wedding ring, pearl necklace, brooch and mink coat, she decides to keep her Volkswagen Golf and drives off in it with a smile on her face. ''Changes'' was named after the song that was used as its soundtrack, written by

Alan Price Alan Price (born 19 April 1942) is an English musician who first found prominence as the original keyboardist of the English rock band the Animals. He left the band in 1965 to form the Alan Price Set; his hit singles with and without the group ...

. It was awarded the Silver prize at the 1988 British Arrows Awards, and is remembered as an indicator of car advertising's recognition of women's growing independence.

Sequence

A woman (Paula Hamilton) is leaving her husband. She tearfully exits her

mews A mews is a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century. Mews are usually located in desirable residential ...

house, removes her wedding ring and posts it back through the letter box. Walking away, she angrily tears off her pearl necklace, throws away her brooch, and removes her mink coat. She approaches a drain, but, as she goes to drop the keys to her Volkswagen Golf down it, she changes her mind and decides instead to keep the car. The advert ends with her driving off in the Golf with a smile on her face; its

strapline Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etymo ...

reads: "If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen."

Production

''Changes'' was created by the advertising agency

Boase Massimi Pollitt Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP) was a British advertising agency which operated between 1968 and 2004 before being renamed as DDB London. It was purchased in 1989 by the US marketing services conglomerate Omnicom. Its lineage can be directly traced ...

on behalf of

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

. It was directed by the British photographer David Bailey, who had first discovered Hamilton. For the piece, Hamilton was styled to resemble

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

. The music used was the song "Changes" by

, which also gave its title to the advert itself. Set to the tune of "

What a Friend We Have in Jesus "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" is a Christian hymn originally written by preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother, who was living in Ireland while he was in Canada. Scriven originally published the poem anonymously, a ...

", the song was written by Price for his friend

Zoot Money George Bruno "Zoot" Money (17 July 1942 – 8 September 2024) was an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He was best known for playing the Hammond organ and for his leadership of the Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ra ...

while he was going through a divorce.

Reception

Critical reaction to the advert was positive—it was awarded the Silver prize at the 1988 British Arrows Awards. As a result of the success of ''Changes'', Hamilton was catapulted to fame, but grew to resent only being known for it. Speaking to Matthew Wright in 1997, she remarked: "All I always seem to be known as is Paula Hamilton the alcoholic and Volkswagen girl."

Legacy

''Changes'' is remembered as an indicator of car advertising beginning to recognise women's increased independence – previous car adverts had largely only either featured women as models or depicted them as passengers. Reflecting on the advert in May 1998, Stephen Armstrong of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' named it as one of the five best advertising campaigns, and remarked that it had "spawned a new era in car advertising". In April 2000 ''Changes'' was ranked at number 42 on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''

The 100 Greatest TV Ads ''The 100 Greatest TV Ads'' is a British TV entertainment programme that first aired on 29 April 2000 on Channel 4. It is part of the channel's '' 100 Greatest'' strand of programmes, and was presented by Graham Norton. Summary The programme cou ...

'', where it was described as being "a sign that

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

had at last reached the ad men".

References

External links

Volkswagen Golf Car Commercial: Changes
at

History of Advertising Trust The History of Advertising Trust was established in 1976 to preserve and protect the heritage of UK advertising history and to offer it for research and study. It was registered as a UK charity (no. 276194) in 1978 and operates on a Non-profit org ...

{{Use dmy dates, date=August 2016 1987 in British television 1987 works British television commercials Feminist mass media Volkswagen advertising