Product Description

In 1959, Doyle Dane Bernbach, the New York advertising agency was appointed to handle the Volkswagen account in the USA. The advertisements they produced through the sixties and early seventies changed the face of advertising, not just in America but across the world.

Remember those great Volkswagen ads? looks briefly at the events surrounding the birth of the campaign and the car, and shows many of the highly acclaimed advertisements that the agency produced. It has been written and compiled by Alfredo Marcantonio, Copywriter and one-time Advertising Manager of VWGB Ltd, John O’Driscoll, Art Director of many British Volkswagen ads, and David Abott, an ex-Creative and Managing Director of DDB’s London office. They decided to put the book together some 20 years ago because 'to let the Beetle and its advertising pass on without a permanent record seemed a crying shame'.

This book is a story of the car and its advertising. In a unique way the two were indivisible; the charming, honest advertising became part of the charm and honesty of the car. It includes 300 illustrations is a mandatory read for Beetle lovers and those in advertising alike. If you ever owned a Beetle, if you’ve ever chuckled at a Volkswagen advertisement, or if you simply appreciate wit and style, you will enjoy this book. It’s the tale of an ugly duckling that became an office pin-up.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #918465 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Tim Delaney
'Something rare- a truly inspiring book about advertising.'

Barbara Nokes, Campaign magazine.
'This impeccably art-directed book should grace the shelves of every library in the ad world.'

From the Author
When we first decided to put this book together we knew it was going to be a labour of love. We'd all owned Beetles in our day and we'd all been involved in Volkswagen advertising. One of us as a client, one as an art director and one as a copywriter.

It is now almost 20 years since that first edition yet hardly a month has gone by without one of us receiving a request for a copy of it.

In his book "When advertising tried harder." Larry Dobrow hailed the US Volkswagen work as the best campaign of all time. There are many British ad men who would agree with him. The creative revolution of the late fifties and early sixties produced many outstanding individual ads, even sets of ads, but this really was its first campaign, pre-dating Avis by three years or more.

The Art direction was unlike anything that had come before. It had a Bauhaus cleanliness about it. The square, sharp Futura typeface was a perfect choice, it had the no-nonsense air of precision engineering. The simple, almost stark page layout visually undermined the pretentiousness of rival car ads. In 60's Detroit size did matter. Their cars' already lengthy bodies were further elongated in fanciful air brushed illustrations that had a ritzy residence or besotted blonde thrown in for good measure. The copy also represented a radical change. Humanity replaced pomposity. The headlines would frequently ask a question rather than make a claim. They were witty and disarmingly honest. The copy agreed the Beetle was no oil painting, but boy, did it work. This artful admission of a disadvantage made the car's advantages all the more believable. The ads were also an object lesson in single-mindedness. They set out to dramatise one truth about the product at a time, rather than parade an unwieldy list of them.

These features of the campaign were retained so consistently that while any number of creative teams worked on the business, you can't see the joins. It also proved to be an idea and approach that travelled. Many British ads were every bit as good as their Manhattan counterparts, as were a number of French and German concepts.

One of the reasons for the campaign's position in advertising folklore is the sheer length of time that it kept winning awards. Almost 20 years. A degree of long term success that has only been rivalled by the British Hamlet cigar ads, a series that only enjoyed consistent success in one medium, television.

To Volkswagen who made the car and to Doyle Dane Bernbach who made the ads, must go all the credit. We have simply been willing editors.

Customer Reviews

Remember when advertising was this good?
In a world where advertising claims to me on the cutting edge, where advertising agencies boast about how brave they are and clients who profess to be the most educated they have ever been, here is a book that reminds us of how conservative and unimaginative we've all become. This book is filled with ad after ad that built a brand into an icon. Gutsy, truly funny and clever marketing, page after page. If you want to get into advertising, memorise this book. If you are in advertising, remind yourself of the size of the shoes you must fill. And if you're a struggling Account person or a Planner working on a car account, this book contains every automotive brief you'll ever need to pinch.

Proof for the cynics that advertising works
Imagine for a moment that it's 1946. A year after the Second World War. You're a hard-working advertising executive enjoying a much-needed cup of steaming coffee. Then you get a phonecall from a potential client.

It turns out the client is a small car manufacturer. So far, no problem.

It turns out the client is a small German car manufacturer. Hmmm... maybe a little tricky.

It turns out the client is a small German car manufacturer whose product was commissioned by Adolph Hitler. Bummer.

'Remember Those Great Volkswagon Ads?' tells the story, through the advertising, of how the Volkswagon was transformed from being Hitler's strange looking car into an American icon. How it went from being a Nazi 'people car' to being the American 'love bug'. And how VW became the household name it is today.

If you doubt the influence advertising has over a nation of consumers, and more importantly, over you, this book will change your mind.

But hey... isn't that what advertising's supposed to do?

A superb chronicle of a great advertising campaign for an iconic product
Even if your answer to the question posed in the title of this book is "No" - this impeccably researched chronicle of a great campaign for an iconic product will entertain you. The Volkswagen ads Doyle Dane Bernbach created in New York and London raised the bar to a dizzy height and no car campaign since has matched it's breakthrough qualities. Advertising students and VW enthusiasts alike should buy this book for the sheer joy the ads still generate after all these years.