Volkswagen Group is one of the biggest automotive manufacturers in world, with brands like Audi, Porsche, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and Bentley under our portfolio. We’re known for having fun and efficient vehicles, but did you know that Volkswagen is also a cultural phenomenon? The Beetle for instance is an icon that is easily recognized by most of the world. How did Volkswagen become such a well recognized brand that even non owners can distinguish them? The cars I personally believe sell themselves, but advertising definitely played a key factor in helping Volkswagen become one of the most recognized brands, ever. To pay homage to the great advertising minds that helped put Volkswagen on the map for over 50 years, here’s some of my favorite VW ads of all time.
1960’s Print Campaign
The very first Beetle was imported in 1949, with the first showroom being established in the mid 1950’s. The Beetle was deemed as a car that was compact, easy to work on, and practical with a low price point. The little German vehicle was definitely different than anything the American consumer had seen before, so to show that we embraced our differences, a somewhat self deprecating, but humorous ad campaign was released. The risk definitely would pay off, considering the Beetle is today still a cultural icon. I mean, who hasn’t heard of Herbie?
Millennium Strikes - New Beetle
The Beetle took a brief hiatus in the US market with the last Type 1 Beetle Convertible rolling out in 1979. Fast forward to the 1990’s - with Y2K approaching, Volkswagen took this opportunity to redesign and revamp a brand new Beetle, that had the power and features that the average consumer wanted in a new car. What they came up with was the New Beetle, a Beetle for the new Millennium, that hit showrooms in the late 90’s. The TV commercial that really highlighted its reintroduction was the commercial featuring Frank Sinatra’s song, “My Way”. It gave a sense of nostalgia while creating buzz for the redesign.
The Rabbit is Back!
The first generation of the Golf was sold in America as the Rabbit in the early 1970’s. This new little hatch was rolled out to be a modern replacement for the Beetle. With the second generation rolling out in 1983, the Rabbit was renamed the Golf and continued to live with that name for over 20 years. In 2006 when the Golf was getting a facelift, Volkswagen wanted to revamp Golf sales, so with the refresh, the Rabbit name was back. VW did a 15 city preview campaign where they had outdoor ads of a few “local” animals and then the Rabbit emblem below with a slogan that said, “Hey insert city name here, the Rabbit is back.” A TV commercial was released with the new Rabbits playing around in a city, mimicking real rabbits. It also featured a modern limited edition version of the Harlequin Rabbit, which paid homage to the mk1 Harlequin Rabbits. The September issue of Playboy also featured the Rabbit, where Playboy model Holly Madison sported a tattoo of the Rabbit emblem on her rear.
The Fast
With the introduction of the new Rabbit also came the introduction of the mk5 GTI. Before the release of the newest GTI generation, VW sent out a survey to a few thousand select VW enthusiasts across America calling it “Project Fast”. The survey was claimed as a “scientific study” about what they believed a Fast was, including the color, size, and shape of the Fast. At the conclusion of the study, a message was sent out associating the Fast with the new mk5 GTI, featuring an aggressive, black, Rabbit like figure. Project Fast created much internet buzz all over the enthusiast world, beginning the mk5’s marketing campaign. For the 2006 Torino Olympics, the Fast figurine was placed all over the Olympic Village for athletes and supporters to rub the Fast to get a little extra fast. With the major sponsorship VW had with the Olympics, TV spots during the game had a slogan of, “Make Friends With Your Fast”. This was a segway to VW’s newest commercials featuring the Fast, the driver’s alter ego, prioritizing the driving experience over absolutely anything and anyone. The buzz to get a Fast was high, and the first 17,000 GTI’s sold came with the little figurine. Since they were becoming so popular and a must have icon, people began selling them on ebay for hundreds of dollars. The Fast is still associated with the GTI, currently even featured in my personal Twitter profile photo. Truly a modern phenomenon, that was created for and by VW enthusiasts.
Unpimp Your Ride
The mk5 GTI had another amazing ad campaign featuring tuner culture. The GTI was released in 1984 as the original “hot hatch”, but over the years, consumers would take their own economy cars, and apply crazy body kits and tune them into ostentatious vehicles. VW released an ad campaign where German engineers would take a tuner’s car, and “umpimp” their ride. The umpimping process would be some form of destruction of their vehicle, to be replaced by a “pre-tuned” VW GTI. The commercial also would feature a hand sign that was shaped as a V and a W, which would later turn into a well known hand sign throughout the VW world, even to this day.
Use The Force
The redesigned Passat was released in the Fall of 2011. This new Passat was to be geared for the American market - now built in America (Chattanooga, TN) and having a starting price around $20k. A new and big commercial had to be released to catch the attention of Americans for the new Passat, and what better way to feature it, than during VW’s Super Bowl commercial that year. The commercial of a little kid trying to use “the Force” around the house, and finally believing he had done it when his father uses the remote start for the Passat is heartwarming, and would make any Star Wars fan flip. The Passat was here - and ready to strike back.
VW Engineers Get Their Wings
VW has always done a great job on Super Bowl ads, but this past year’s ad was probably one of my favorites. The ad featured a new Passat that had reached 100,000 miles, being driven by a father and daughter. The daughter didn’t believe this was a milestone, so the father tells her about how a VW engineer gets their wings every time a VW hits 100,000 miles. The results were hysterical, and it would feature the fact that our brand had the most vehicles out on the road with over 100,000 miles. This would launch a marketing campaign, featuring ads of VW’s hitting over 100k, and the joy it brought consumers. Also, it meant there were a whole lot of German engineers out there with “wingy thingies”.
So those were a few of my favorite VW ad campaigns. What are yours? Share with us @stohlmanauto. Until next time!
Esther Cho
VW Product Specialist
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