The GTI hot-hatch culture set up in those spots are knocked down here, where overtricked, unidentifiable lead sleds are unpimped (by the only means possible: destruction) by a white-clad team of "German" de-engineers. I find them more successful because -- well, they're funnier, and are also trying to demolish the old image of the GTI.

But not the belabored image of the rapturously eccentric German. A lot is made of actor Peter Stormare's accent -- not quite Swedish -- but have you heard Helga? The two of them transcend the German stereotype -- beyond nation, they dwell in some corner of the American id. Ridiculous enough that every German I've talked to thinks they're funny. So, the natural question: what Americans stereotypes work in advertising? Are we glib, motormouthed salesmen, like in British ads? Or will Jared from Subway be ünkonigen fast food in the near future?