Summary Of The Heart-Warming Commercial 'Maddie'

“Maddie” is a heart-warming commercial produced by Chevy Automotives in 2014. It takes us on a journey with the main characters, a girl and her golden retriever, Maddie. Unlike most stories, this tale begins at the end. With a soft, mournful piano ballad playing in the background, we observe a woman in her late twenties standing beside an older appearing golden retriever as she smiles sadly and pets him. They appear to be sharing a special moment as the dog lays calmly in the veterinarian’s. The scene abruptly changes to a sunny, bright day, where the woman, cuddling the dog on her couch, relaxes with a warm drink and then smoothly transitions to her walking him around the leaf covered park and enjoying time with the dog. Next, Maddie, the lively golden retriever, leaps out of the
back of her parent’s Chevy as the woman carries a box full of pillows and blankets into what we perceive to be her first home. Here, we start to get the illusion that the story is going back in time and we start to understand that we’re seeing her life in reverse with her beloved and faithful dog.
As the next scene unfolds, we see her donning a graduation robe and smiling for pictures with her snuggly dog as her parents beam with pride. Quickly shifting, we find her pacing around her room, Maddie laying on her multi-colored bed, as her boyfriend breaks up with her over the phone. It drifts to the next clip where she appears to be on a date with the boyfriend. As he leans in for a kiss, she seems hesitant and Maddie protectively begins to growl, making the boyfriend jump back in fear. Going back even farther, we see the girl learning how to drive in the Chevy, as her dad, sitting in the passenger seat, and the dog, in the back, get thrown around as she spasmodically starts and stops the vehicle. Suddenly, we are taken back to a childhood birthday where the girl blows out the candles on her cake as the dog, gazing longingly at the food in front of him, observes from her lap. Next, we witness a childhood memory of the girl and Maddie, tucked away in a pillow and blanket fort, enthusiastically reading aloud a
novel. This blends into the next clip, where we find the now very young girl excitedly rushing out of the Chevy, parents closely behind, over to a box of golden retriever puppies. Crouching down, and pulling a golden retriever from the box, she instantly falls in love with the furry puppy. As she rubs noses with the adorable animal, she lovingly announces, whilst grinning ear-to-ear, “This is Maddie.” Swiftly, it switches back to the opening sequence in the veterinarian’s office, where she’s rubbing noses and giving him a kiss one more time before she has to put the dog down. After this emotional moment, it bounces back to her first day with Maddie as she, with Maddie cuddled in her arms, and her parents hop into their shiny Chevy as the sun sets behind them. Softly, the music concludes as the words, “A best friend for life’s journey.”, materialize on the screen.