OK, geek alert (and for the return of this blog—for shame!), but I just saw Transformers 2 and an odd thought struck me*: it has an evil Volkswagen. And this made me think: what a difference a huge pile of cash makes to a company’s morals.

If you’re thinking “er, what?”, Volkswagen somewhat recently nixed a major redesign of the Transformer Bumblebee, who was due to join an absurdly detailed toy line (the decidedly ‘not for kids’ Alternators) as a new Volkswagen Beetle. Volkswagen said no, reasoning that the company didn’t want to associate its vehicles with war-themed media. Fair enough—after all, a quick peek into VW’s history shows a somewhat… murky past.

Fast-forward four short years and evil Decepticon Sideways is on Earth in Transformers 2, presumably having fun killing various things. He changes into a silver Audi R8. Audi, of course, is owned by Volkswagen.

Like I said, what a difference a huge pile of cash makes to a company’s morals. Sadly, this isn’t in the slightest a shock.

* And, no, not “why on Earth did I go and see this?”—it’s actually quite fun, if not as fun nor nearly as coherent as the first film. And Bay and co. should really cut down on the racist Autobots, which even give Jar Jar Binks a run for his money.