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Now that the series is over, we, as viewers, realize that Wanda created beautiful
Westview and her own sitcoms out of grief and childhood memories. WandaVision is filled with
multiple Easter Eggs alluding to the multi-verse and new series and movies included in the 4 th
phase of the MCU. However, the most unusual (and my personal favorite) part of WandaVision
are the commercial breaks. In my opinion, the commercial breaks are part of Wanda’s
subconscious seeing as they stop as she becomes more self-aware of the alternate reality she
created. The commercials point to different points of Wanda’s past and usually revolve around
some form of trauma, but what do they all mean? Let’s break them down.
Episode One: Stark Industries’ Toast Mate
The commercial for the Toast Mate has obvious references to Iron Man. First and
foremost, it is sold by Stark Industries, Tony Stark’s multi-million dollar company. Once the
lady puts the bread in the toaster and presses the lever, the sound that emits is that of Iron Man’s
repulsors. But why Tony Stark? Many people believe that it could be referencing the trauma of
Wanda’s childhood home being destroyed by a Stark Industries bomb, but I disagree. In this
black and white episode, the ToastMate flashes red and yellow. It is obvious that those colors are
important, and many relate red and yellow to Iron Man’s suit, however those are also the colors
associated with Vision. Vision was “born” within the walls of Stark Industry and created by
Tony Stark. Could this be Wanda’s subconscious remembering the origins of her love and
helping her recreate Vision? This commercial ends with the slogan: “Forget the past, this is your
future!” Is she urging herself to forget her past trauma of losing the love of her life and focus on
the future she has created in Westview?
Episode Two: Strucker Watch
The name of the brand itself is a huge clue. Baron Strucker is first seen in the MCU
experimenting on Wanda and her brother, Pietro at the end of “Captain America: The Winter
Soldier” which set the stage for “Age of Ultron”. It is later discovered that Wanda volunteers for
a Hydra operative experimenting with the mind stone which Strucker is leading, hence the Hydra
logo in the middle of the watch. It is through this Hydra experiment that Wanda interacts with
the mind stone and gets her powers thus becoming Scarlet Witch. Through these powers she is
able to create “time” for her and Vision, who is powered by the mind stone, to be together which
is referenced in the slogan, “He’ll make time for you.”
Episode Three: Hydra Soak
This is what I would call the beginning of Wanda’s realization of what she is doing. This
commercial starts with what can only be described as mass chaos in the kitchen. The woman in
the commercial is standing in the middle of a mess created by her children, the family’s dog
(possibly foreshadowing Wanda’s eventual twins and Sparky), burning food, and an exploding
blender. A voice asks if the woman needs a break and the woman says, “You read my mind!”
which is most likely a reference to Wanda’s ability to control the minds of others. As the
commercial goes on, the woman is now in a bubble bath complete with palm frond waving
servants. What the narrator says next is extremely telling; “Come with me. Escape to a world all
your own, where your problems float away. When you want to get away, but you don’t want to
go anywhere, Hydra Soak.
Find the goddess within.” Wanda has obviously escaped to a world all
her own, as she created it. She has also created it in sitcom form, which judging from the sitcoms
she based it off on, all the problems were solved in tidy thirty minute episodes. Wanda is getting
away from her problems by not leaving Westview. The meaning of next part; “Hydra Soak. Find
the goddess within.” is revealed later on in the series when Wanda interacts with the mind stone
for the first time at a Hydra facility. From Strucker’s point of view, it looks like nothing
happened, but from Wanda’s point of view, she sees the form of Scarlet Witch (herself) with
glorious backlighting which is very goddess-like.
Episode Five: Lagos Paper Towels
Wanda’s realization of what she has done continues as this commercial directly
references another mistake Wanda made while learning about her powers. Lagos is the Nigerian
city in which Wanda accidentally diverted a bomb blast into a building killing innocent people.
This incident was widely covered by the news and led to the Sokovia Accords and later to the
events in “Captain America: Civil War”. Wanda was not trying to hurt anyone in Lagos, much
like she is not trying to hurt anyone in Westview. Initially, Wanda did not mean to create and
kidnap all the people in Westview, but is slowly coming to the realization that that is exactly
what she’s done. The brand slogan, “Lagos. For when you make a mess you didn’t mean to.” is
revealing that this is not what Wanda initially set out to do. She was just grieving and did not
realize her own powers.
Episode Six: Yo-Magic Yogurt
This commercial is honestly the wildest commercial out of all of them and the hardest
one to break down. The surfing shark and bright animation are giving off peak 90’s Saturday
morning cartoon vibes which matches with the style of the episode. The commercial starts with a
shark surfing up to a boy on an island and giving him yogurt. The boy is unable to open the
yogurt and eventually withers away to a skeleton. The tagline then reads, “Yo-Magic! The snack
for survivors!” Could this be a reference to Wanda as a survivor and Westview, her “slice” of
paradise, as a snack? Snacks aren’t full meals, they’re little bits of food to get you from one meal to another.
Is Westview just a “snack” for Wanda? Is this false reality just getting her through her
grief and onto her next big adventure as seen at the end of the series? I believe this commercial is
a hint at bigger things to come for Wanda and her magic. Wanda has been a survivor all her life.
She survived the bomb that killed her parents, interacting with the mind stone which killed
others, battling Ultron which killed her brother, and Thanos which killed Vision. Her magic has
gotten stronger and more powerful, the more she has survived which could be referenced in the
name “Yo-Magic Yogurt”.
Episode Seven: Nexus Pill
The term nexus is extremely important in the Marvel Universe and is slowly becoming more and more important in the MCU with shows like “Loki” and the upcoming movie, “Doctor
Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” which we know features Scarlet Witch. A nexus event is
a central point in time (which we learn about in the series, “Loki”) and a nexus being is someone,
like Wanda, Kang, Doctor Strange, etc., that can manipulate the fabric of reality. The TVA in
“Loki” does this in a big way, while Wanda does this in her own little pocket of Westview. The
Nexus pill, however, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the TVA and everything to do
with Wanda herself. The pill is an anti-depressant and Wanda is most definitely struggling
through her own depression, but it’s the slogan that is the direct reference.
“Nexus. Because the world doesn’t revolve around you. Or does it?” Wanda has created Westview to revolve around her and Vision and the family they create. The audience sees this when Vision travels to the outer parts of the city to see families frozen mid-motion. The people of Westview are only
“activated” when Wanda is around. The 10.3% dose as labeled in the commercial could be a
parallel to “Avengers issue #103” in which Wanda herself is kidnapped. Either way, this
commercial is a sign of Wanda’s subconscious fighting itself.
The side effects say that the pill will help you let go, realize your strength, and confront the truth. However, the commercial also mentions the pill helping to anchor you back to reality…or the reality of your choice. This makes the distinction that Wanda herself must choose what to do, keep up her reality or let the people go back to what they were doing before. As for the audience, this is definitely a hint about
Wanda’s powers and what could happen in the upcoming Doctor Strange movie.
By Colleen Malucci
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