Here Comes The Pun: Volkswagen Takes Its Tops Off
It is good to hear that bad puns have survived a decade of uptight up-positioning at Volkswagen, and are alive and well. You had me worried, friends. Under the tagline “As sun as possible”, Volkswagen starts a digital campaign that brings the new Beetle Cabriolet to the Interwebs.
Werner Butter, for many years Creative Director at Volkswagen’s Doyle Dane Bernbach agency, and father of many advertising classics for Volkswagen, once told me, entre nous copywriters: “I’d rather lose a good friend than give up on a bad pun.” Then he winked at me with his one good eye. Werner died in 2009, but the spirit of wonderful bad puns lives on, thank God.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Not to be a Grammar Nazi but I think they spelled Fuehrer wrong.
Perhaps a Beetle cabriolet will bring some much needed sorely needed aesthetic appeal back to the model. I can't see that the masculinazation of the current design has helped sales very much. Women, who thought the New Beetle (that's the previous generation) to be "cute" and "fun" have no similar pronouncements on the cuerrent Beetle and flock to Mini dealers instead. Will a drop-top bring some perceived playfulness back to the image? VW has to be cognizant that this is a lifestyle car and therefore has to project an image of a better, happier time than can be had with a more economical Civic, Corolla, or Elantra.
See, "Like Father, Like Sun" works... and then they had to go for the extra groans with "As Sun As Possible"... ouch. An elbow straight to the solar plexus...
I like this 'happy' theme starting with the mon from thee Gopha stayet. The retro rock tunes bring some of us back to happier, or at least more carefree days. A new car that's like the car you used to have. Relive it.