The Disney+ TV show WandaVision packs plenty of Easter eggs in its fake TV commercials. Each one of these has a specific motif and meaning behind it. The show revolves around the magically manipulated relationship between Wanda and the android, Vision, in a seeming sitcom universe, Westview. However, the truth is so much darker than expected. It is revealed that Westview’s reality is being controlled by The Scarlet Witch, and while she does an excellent job of hiding her demons, the TV commercials seen during the episodes point out something buried deep in her mind.
The brief minute-long commercials interrupt reality to deliver an in-universe message referencing back to MCU events. All these have a running thread and relate chronologically to events from Wanda’s life, revisiting the pain and suffering she has had to go through in MCU. Find out which moment is Wanda’s life is referenced in each fake commerical on WandaVision.
6. Stark Industries Toastmate 2000 (Episode 1)
The first fake TV commercial seen in WandaVision makes an appearance in Episode 1, and features an unnamed couple with a toast maker made by Stark Industries—Tony’s company. There are plenty of references in this commercial, and most of them refer back to Iron man. As the unnamed female character puts the bread and pulls down the lever, the audience can hear a sound similar to the Iron Man repulsor blasts.
Later in the commercial, the toaster light blinks red in a somewhat bomb-like fashion. The red color is a reference to Iron Man’s suit, and the blinking points to the ticking bomb created by Stark Industries that killed Wanda’s parents, and tempted the twins to go to Strucker. The final slogan of the toastmaker in WandaVision, “Forget the past, this is your future,” refers to Wanda’s psyche telling her to let go of the past (Thanos, Ultron, Vision’s Death) and focus on the future she is making in Westview and her controlled universe.
5. Strücker Watches (Episode 2)
The second episode of WandaVision features a fake TV commercial with the same couple from the toastmaker, but this time, the advertised product is a Strücker watch created by a company named “Hydra.” MCU fans will remember the person experimenting on Wanda and her brother in the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the villainous Hydra operator Wolfgang von Strücker who used the Mind Stone to give telekinetic powers to Wanda. The watch’s brand name, “Strücker,” is a direct reference to the villain and the Hydra logo placed in the center of the watch’s faceplate confirms that.
At the end of the commercial, the announcer reads the slogan—“Strucker: He’ll make time for you,” while the watch starts ticking rapidly. Here, the reference isn’t just about the Hydra operator as before. Instead, it refers to Wanda’s ability to manipulate reality and Westview’s time progression, precisely “making” time for you.
4. Hydra Soak (Episode 3)
From Episode three, things started getting more revolutionized and modern in the WandaVision, which is also reflected in the fake commercials. The product advertised in this episode’s commercial is a soap named “Hydra Soak.” At the end of the commercial, you get a close-up of the soap where you can see multiple octopus logos on the packaging.
The name “Hydra” and octopian packaging are a direct indicative reference to the evil Hydra organization. However, the slogan of the product, “When you want to get away, but you don’t want to go anywhere,” follows more than one school of thought. It indicates the time of imprisonment Wanda faced while captured by Hydra. It also points towards the manipulated ecosystem that Wanda created in WandaVision to “get away” from reality (Vision’s Death).
3. Lagos Paper Towels (Episode 5)
After giving viewers details about what was happening in the real world through Episode four, Episode five came in with another fake commercial of absorbent towels from a “Lagos” brand. This commercial is the most thinly veiled Easter egg in WandaVision. The product slogan is “For when you make a mess, you didn’t mean to,” which obviously points out the mess Wanda created in the Nigerian city of Lagos in Captain America: Civil War.
To save Steve from the bomb, Wanda used her power to divert the blast, killing multiple individuals in the neighboring building. The commercial manifests that Wanda still feels guilty even though the destruction wasn’t her fault. Additionally, the liquid mess in the commercial is red, and referring to the blood of those who died in the explosion.
2. Yo-Magic Yogurt (Episode 6)
Episode six delivered one of the hardest fake commercials to decipher from WandaVision. It includes a small kid stranded on an island to whom a shark hands Yo-Magic yogurt to eat. The strange thing is that the boy can’t open the lid and just starves to death while trying to open the Yo-Magic yogurt.
With the previous commercials referencing significant moments from Wanda’s life in chronological order, the Yo-Magic Yogurt points to Wanda’s immediate present with the child in the commercial symbolizing the people of Westview under Wanda’s influence, who are moving closer to death each day. Or perhaps, if taken at face value, also means that Wanda needed to connect to her magic to survive her current situation.
1. Nexus Antidepressants (Episode 7)
Unlike other fake commercials, this one does not directly relate to the protagonist’s past. First off, the commercial is for a drug, “Nexus,” which is the only product that is actually used in the series, with Wanda herself using it, likely pointing to her status as a “Nexus Being.” The Marvel Comics term, “Nexus Being,” refers to an individual at the center of their universe and who has the ability to manipulate reality. The commercial also teased Disney+’s Loki series, which starred Tom Hiddleston as the titular character who creates a Nexus event –a deviation from the timeline– which alters the course of his life.
READ ALSO: The MCU’s Captain America Has One Big Comic Difference
Follow Us
