Icon or proof of no second act?
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Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t figure out if VW’s advertising with the ancient Bug is reassuringly nostalgic or a disturbing admission of a failure by VW to top themselves in the past 40 years. Why not the new bug? Is the old one now the symbol for the whole brand? And this reference to “The People,” well, it doesn’t conjure the best of associations. From Wikipedia:
In 1933, Adolf Hitler submitted sketches[citation needed] to Ferdinand Porsche of a proposed “Volks-Wagen” (the name means “people’s car” in German, in which it is pronounced [?folksvag?n]), a basic vehicle that should be capable of transporting two adults and three children at a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). The People’s Car would be made available to citizens of the Third Reich through a savings scheme at 990 Reichsmark, about the price of a small motorcycle at the time (an average income being around 32RM/week).[4]
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2 comments
Hmm.. like the conflict between the nostalgic and the “can’t let go of the past” sentiment.
You have to admit though, VW has always done well in their marketing and advertising.
True that. VW stuff has been consistently interesting.
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