A small, ugly, and German car sets off to conquer America.
The United States was at its peak in the late fifties. A generation grew up that had not experienced the horrors of World War II, yet enjoyed a better life brought about by the economic boom of the peaceful years, thanks to an unprecedented rise in living standards and wealth.
Dream in chrome finish
The most popular cars during this period were huge road cruisers. They shone brightly, were laden with chrome, had massive gullwing fins at the back, and could transport up to six people due to their impressive size. They showcased extras like air conditioning, automatic transmission, or electric window lifts. These are no longer considered novelties today, but even in the eighties, they were not standard accessories here.
To put this incredible prosperity into context, let’s compare a popular American model with a car available in the Eastern Bloc at the time. The first advertisement features a 1958 Chevrolet Impala.
The next advertisement photo depicts a 1959 Skoda Octavia. The size difference between the two cars is already evident. Although the Octavia was considered a particularly beautiful car by the standards of the time, it pales in comparison to the Impala's over-decoration.
What will become of the beetle?
During this period, Volkswagen decided to enter the American passenger car market with the already well-known and justly popular Beetle model in Europe. The car was designed by Ferdinand Porsche in the late thirties for Adolf Hitler, who was a car enthusiast when he wasn't posing as the world's most ruthless dictator. He aimed to provide an affordable, practical car for his people (yes, just like that, without any pathos :-), with which hundreds of thousands of families could drive carefree on the Autobahn after the victorious end of the war. Hence the name Volkswagen (people's car).
Several factors delayed the realization, such as the fact that they lost the world war and Europe's once strongest economy lay in ruins; however, the prototype was completed in the late thirties. In the years following the war, the factory was restored, and production of the model was successfully ramped up.
A maverick creative director
When the company decided to expand into the American market, Volkswagen's marketers turned to William Bernbach, who was the head and one of the founders of the later DDB agency (the name of the advertising agency was formed from the initials of Doyle, Dane, and Bernbach). They asked him to design an attention-grabbing advertisement to boost the model's sales in the United States.
Bill Bernbach was a maverick among the agency heads on Madison Avenue. He believed that he could create a good advertisement only if he and his creatives had an in-depth understanding of the brand they were working on. Therefore, his team visited Volkswagen's factory in Wolfsburg, and they drew the core idea for the later campaigns from there.
They found that the Germans assemble the beetle-backs with incredible precision, subject them to thorough testing, and only allow perfectly flawless specimens to leave the factory...
To be continued
