Week 1 EOC: VW Lemon

Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency from New York is responsible for changing the face of advertising with his 1959 Volkswagon Bug advertisements. The understated style of these advertisements stood out in a sea of in-your-face, larger-than-life ads that penetrated the market. The genius of the design has become a tradition with the brand. The famous ad that just said “Lemon” underneath a picture of the Beetle explained to consumers how the inspectors of the car would reject that specific vehicle because of a small blemish on the chrome bumper. One ad didn’t even have a picture and simply said, “"No point in showing you the 1962 Volkswagen. It still looks the same." This appealed to the Baby Boomer generation of the 1960’s as a way to reject materialism. The ads concentrate on using humor to pull the consumer in and give them a positive connection with the brand. Giving information about the car or the brand was not the primary function of these simple advertisements. People already knew what a Volkswagon Beetle was and the company understood this. They just wanted to give people a reason to like the brand and want to come and look at the car. Once inside the dealership the consumer could be further informed about the product. That’s what good advertising does. It creates curiosity and wonderment. Once people are curious about something they want to know more about it. Since the 1960’s advertisements for Volkswagon created this sense of curiosity, the company became the number one foreign vehicle provider in the United States. This trend continued until brands like Toyota and Datsun created similarly priced products.