Volkswagen teases Super Bowl's new ‘Star Wars’ commercial (Video)

Volkswagen made everyone laugh with their ”The Force” commercial during last year’s Super Bowl. That ad continues to prove popular, racking up over 48 million views on YouTube. For this year’s Super Bowl, VW continues its relationship with Star Wars. The car maker released a teaser for the commercial it will air during the game on Feb. 5.

The teaser features a group of dogs barking to the tune of the “Imperial March,” which first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. VW calls the teaser “The Bark Side.” After the dogs, including some wearing Star Wars costumes, finish, the phrase “Back. Better than ever. 2.5.2012” appears.

The Los Angeles Times reports that releasing a teaser for a commercial is unusual, but it clearly has gained the attention that VW wanted. After the video was posted on Wednesday night, it had already been viewed 1 million times. By Friday, the video had been viewed over 3.2 million times.

"It's trending faster than 'The Force' did, and this isn't even a Super Bowl ad," Mike Sheldon, chief executive of Deutsch LA, the firm that works on VW’s commercials, told the LA Times.

USA Today reports that the teaser first aired during Wednesday’s episode of ABC’s The Middle, which actually featured a VW Passat.

VW has kept quiet about what the actual ad will be like, but has said that it is intended to promote the new remodeled Beetle.

This year, companies will pay $3.5 million just to air a 30-second spot during NBC’s broadcast of the Super Bowl, which is being held in Indianapolis this year.

Here is “The Bark Side”:

As a bonus, since you can never watch it enough times, here’s the original “The Force” ad: