So the item of the day on advertising blogs everywhere has been this disturbing viral Volkswagen ad. It shows, if you can believe it, a suicide bomber driving up to a café in a VW Polo and trying to detonate a car bomb. But he manages to blow only himself up—the sporty little roadster absorbs the blast, proving that it is “small but tough.” As if we needed it, we have gotten official word that neither VW nor any of its agencies (including DDB, its lead shop in Europe) had anything to do with this. It is indeed a hoax. Move on, please. Nothing to see here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd