This campaign is based on a very simple product truth that differentiates the up! from other cars in the AOO sector: for such a small car it has a surprising amount of head and leg room.

In this ad we follow a tall woman on a series of dates in her quest to find the perfect partner. The problem is that every man she meets is simply too small for her. Awkward.

After five failed dates with five different men, we see her waiting for her next date. He arrives in a Volkswagen up! and our tall woman looks dejected: if he's driving that tiny car, he's probably the shortest man of all, she thinks.

Imagine her surprise and delight when the door opens and out steps a strapping 6'3 hunk of a man! She's finally found true love and a suitably tall companion in the most unlikely of places - the Volkswagen up!

They drive off happily together in the up!

Our hero girl had to be very tall.

The brief was for no girls to be smaller than 6 foot 2.

And most importantly, she had to be an excellent actor.

You have to feel for her when her dates fail. And you’re as happy as she is when she eventually finds her man. She has to be more than likable, she has to be lovable. She’s sensitive, vulnerable and feminine.

Also, she should not look like a catwalk model. We have to feel like she has trouble trying to find the right man.

Our goal was for this girl to become a recognizable VW character – a personality who endures.

When we started casting we quickly realized is that the vast majority of very tall girls/women simply cannot act. Acting is not a career tall girls pursue. This was a big problem - our commercial would live or die on the audience feeling for the hero girl.

Also, we needed someone who carried their height with grace. Very tall girls can appear gangly and awkward when they move. Unfortunately the tall girls who moved with grace were always the beautiful models – this wasn’t helping.

We eventually found our girl in Holland.

Llse Ott.

She immediately charmed everyone – women and men alike – the moment we saw her. And, as seen by the finished commercial, she can act.

Like all great screen stars her performance is small and intimate, but perfect.

She reacted to each scene better than we were hoping for. She brought warmth and sensitivity to the commercial and when she smiles at the end of the spot we are smiling with her. A difficult trick to pull off after 60 seconds of screen time.