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Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car.

The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB.

“Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo.

William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients.

Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle as an all-American car. Of course, the idea was immediately rejected by Bernbach.

 

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Instead, DDB embraced their subject, and showed it for all its weaknesses. With simple, uncomplicated art and copy that treated the reader like a friend that was in on a joke, the campaign endeared itself to an audience that was growing weary of big, larger-than-life ads for big, larger-than-life cars.

Take 20 minutes and watch the video the whole way through. It’s a fascinating insight into the creative process behind one of the most recognizable and important ad campaigns in the history of advertising.

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The post Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America appeared first on VWVortex.



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