FREE ESSAY ON SWEET SUCCESS AGAIN: THE VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE ADVERTISING CAMPAIN

SWEET SUCCESS AGAIN: THE VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE ADVERTISING CAMPAIN

Sweet Success Again
The Complete Advertising and Marketing Handbook says, "The average individual in the
United States is exposed to 1500 to 2500 selling messages everyday" (Lewis 2). That
number of advertisements adds up to more then $70 billion dollars earned for newspapers,
magazines, television, and radio according to Jean Kilbourne (35), and "Automotive
marketers are what's behind $12.8 billion in media spending every year" (qtd. in
Kilbourne 96). 
One of the most successful ad campaigns of all times happened to be an automobile
advertisement. The campaign was for the original Volkswagen Beetle. Everyone recognized
the Volkswagen advertisements of the 1960's. "Volkswagen ads have won a list of prizes
longer than an account executive's expense account." According to Huston Horn, "They are
talked about at cocktail parties, read aloud at the office water cooler, analyzed and
dissected in college term papers..." (qtd. in Nelson 225). The beetle is back. So, how
are the new Volkswagen advertisements?
The new magazine advertisements are relief to the tired eyes of the average magazine
onlooker. Most of the ads today are full of clutter, vast amount of colors, and enough
print one could mistake the ads for an actual article; the Volkswagen ads have only one
sentence, an occasional a small picture of a beetle, and a refreshing solid white
background. These advertisements are not simple though; a mastermind has created them.
The new ads, as the original ads, deserve to have college term papers written about
them.
In the November 2000 addition of George magazine, a Volkswagen ad was the centerfold. The
advertisement appears to be two blank white pages at first glance. Once one looks at the
advertisement though, one notices a sentence at the bottom right-hand page that says,
"Just thought we'd give you a moment amid the political hoopla to think about those
issues that matter to you." That one sentence can bring a smile on anyone's face. And we
have been bombarded with political advertisements. After all, this is not only the
closest election of history--with the president elect still unknown two days after
election day--it is also the costliest election of history with the dollar sign
calculating approximately $4 billion dollars according to the Washington Post (Marcus,
1). 
The advertisement in InStyle magazine slightly differs. The ad is still a double page
spread with a white background; however, this advertisement has a small green beetle in
the center of the right page and a sentence centered on the left page that says, "Other
cars are starting to look funny." The yellow-green color of the bug has a significant
effect on the ad. 
It is not a surprise that the beetle is in a color that symbolizes a "resurrection of the
just" (Brewer) considering the beetle itself was resurrected. More important then the
symbol of the color green is the physiological effect of the color green. Green suggests
"stability, solidity, constancy, persistence, resilience of the will; and, in regard to
the sense of self, a feeling of self-worth" (Luscher, 161). Does not that describe the
ideal car? 
Beside the simple double page spread with a white background, both ads have in common the
Volkswagen slogan "Drivers wanted" and the blue Volkswagen symbol in the bottom
right-hand corner and their 800 number and web address in the bottom left-hand corner.
These similarities are important as well.
The Volkswagen symbol is a blue circle with white letters that allow the V and W of
Volkswagen to coexist. It is important to know Volkswagen is a German automobile and
"Germut" is a word in German "that cannot be translated into any other language" (Luscher
159). The word describes the psychological effect of the color blue. The description of
the word "Germut" is "the ideal of unity and harmony. It is the primal maternal
attachment, loyalty, trust, love and devotion. Blue is symbolic of timeless eternity and
of harmony in historical time, that is, tradition" (Luscher 159). With that definition,
it is obvious why Volkswagen would pick the color blue to be their symbol. 
The color describes everything one looks for in friend, family, or lover. Blue was
selected to suggest romance. "The romantic ads tell us the car will make us feel sexy and
safe and loved, that it will give us passion and security in a world that is both humdrum
and dangerous, and sometimes that it will substitute for human relationships" (Kilbourne
96). 
Internet addresses printed on the corner of advertisements are now as common as copyright
symbols. The masterminds of Volkswagen however use their internet addresses as a plug for
even more advertisements. If one were to visit the web site not only can they buy the car
of their choice, but they can also download the commercials for Volkswagen just in case
the print ad did not already sell the customer on a Volkswagen automobile.
According to the press releases on the Volkswagen web site, the advertisements are
working. This past year Volkswagen sales are breaking records with percentage increase in
sales per month ranging from 5.8% up to 29.7%. The Volkswagen campaign is once again a
success. 
One can question if advertising really works. However, if advertising does not work why
is so much money spent each year. According the U.S. census of the world population and
the $200 billion dollars spent every year on advertising (Kilborne 33) there is an
average of $32.74 spent per year on every person in the world per. With that much money
being spent the answer is clear, advertising does effect us--even if only in our
subconscious state is effected
Bibliography
Works Cited
***ADVERTISEMENTS OF THE NEW BEATLE FOUND IN "INSTYLE" AND "GEORGE" NOVEMBER, 2000***
Kilbourne, Jean. Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive Power of
Advertising. New York: The Free Press, 1999.
Lewis, Herschell Gordon. The Complete Advertising and Marketing Handbook: Your
Twenty-First Century Advertising and Marketing manual Is Available Right Now. Chicago:
Bonus Books, Inc., 1998.
Luscher, Max. The 4-Color Person. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1979.
Marcus, Ruth. "Costliest Race in U.S. History Nears End." Washington Post 6 November
2000: A01.
Nelson, Walter Henry. Small Wonder: The Amazing Story 
of the Volkswagen Beetle. Boston: Bentley Stock, 1970.
"Symbolism of Colours." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. Nov. 2000