A Subaru Commercial With a Dog In It Made Me Cry

By Quinn Eaton

Click the Above Video to Be Brought to Tears

Let me go ahead and say that it takes something very powerful to bring me to tears. Humble brag, but I am a very tough guy. In recent memory, I have only cried while watching A Star is Born and Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel (there is a part where the chubbiest chipmunk Theodore had to go out on stage and tell everyone Alvin wasn't going to be there, and it hit me hard). That being said, there I was just minding my own business, watching sports like a man does, and this commercial comes on. "Great, another car commercial," I groaned, not knowing that in a matter of a few seconds, I would be "Marley and Me-ed" for a lack of a better term.
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I think we can all agree that are too many car commercials. Are that many people buying cars? The industry is marketing car buying like it is your weekly grocery shopping. Anyways, so this car commercial comes on with all the classic elements of a traditional car advertisement: a nice shiny car, terrain that said car will definitely not be driven on, and a dog. The holy trinity of the car commercial industry. I almost changed the channel (I hate car commercials that much), but then the story captivated me, and I was hooked.

The commercial is conveying a message about the long lasting durability of a Subaru, specifically the Subaru Crosstrek in this case. Two neighbors who appear to live in the middle of BFE (bum f*$% egypt, or the middle of nowhere) develop a friendship thanks to one neighbor's mischievous dog, Banjo. Now I am no animal expert, but Banjo appears to be a very cute, good boy, and he steals the show.

​At the beginning of the commercial, Banjo is a puppy and runs away from his home to the nearby neighbor's house. Banjo's owner then drives over to pick him up, and thus a friendship triangle is born between the three characters. Fast forward, and Banjo is now a middle aged dog, up to his no good antics once again, and takes off to his new neighbor friend's house. His owner yet again has to use her sporty and reliable Subaru Crosstrek to come and retrieve him. This time, the old neighbor had a tennis ball ready to throw for Banjo, implying that this blossoming friendship has had many opportunities such as this one.

Now this is where it got me. Another time jump reveals the old man neighbor on his porch (possibly cracking open a can of tuna? Your guess is as good as mine) as the Subaru pulls up to the house. Is Banjo sitting on the porch with the man? Is he just out of the frame? NO! Banjo is IN the Subaru, and his old age has hindered him from running away from his house to his neighbor friend's, so his owner (who seems to be the only thing that doesn't age in the commercial, along with that beautifully elegant Subaru Crosstrek) has kindfully elected to bring him over once and a while to allow for the man and dog to still remain in touch.

Tear factory, ladies and gentlemen. If you don't have 2 hours free to watch Marley and Me, just watch this damn minute long Subaru masterpiece in the link above. It will provide the same effect.

Subaru did not pay me to write this. Subaru moved me to write this.

Video Credit: Subaru.com