Volvo ad reflects melancholic beauty of Sweden's harsh winter

Combine beautifully sad music and scenery of Sweden’s harsh winter landscape and this is what you get. Airing this weekend, the four-minute ad from Volvo is the longest-ever ad to air in Sweden’s broadcasting history.

Complete with stunning shots of a snow-covered Sweden, the car brand intentionally taps into the melancholic tone of the country’s harsh winter landscape – a brave move rarely seen in the advertising world.

Depicting the month of January, the ad beautifully captures the reality of a month rarely treated to a ray of sunshine.

According to its director Gustav Johansson, ‘Vintersaga’ sets out to convey a sense of ‘vemod’ – a Swedish word that doesn’t have a direct translation into English, but which is best defined as a kind of melancholy, but tempered with optimism.

Part of Volvo’s ‘Made in Sweden’ campaign, the ‘Vintersaga’ ad directed by Gustav Johansson attempts to reflect a sense of ‘vemod’ – a Swedish word without direct English translation which is best defined as a kind of optimistic melancholy.

Swedish singer-songwriter Amanda Bergman graces the ad with a suitably dark yet vemod-like track.