It’s amazing how ideas seem to flow like rain storms here in the south… One second it’s a draught and the next thing you know, it’s a deluge. For me, I just watch my friends or go drive around aimlessly and the brain starts pumping ideas out. Sometimes it’s something they say that gets the mind flowing… “I design dresses that people want to take off” (that one just about made me cry at 3am from laughter) and sometimes its just one of their crazy antics. In today’s post I blame my friend Mike and his decision to buy a dead VW bus for $400. Turns out it just needed a little tender love and the next thing I know he is driving around the block.

So today’s post revolves around one of my favorite companies, Volkswagen. If you haven’t already seen it, check out my final project for a German history course I did my senior year. As much as I would like to praise VW for creating a really easy product to advertise in my eyes, I’m getting a little tired of their latest “Pimp my V-dub” commercials. Don’t get me wrong, I think it was a very catchy idea a year or two ago, but the times have changed and you have to update!

I’ve always been a fan of the early VW advertisement campaigns in the US. It’s the photographer in me… I’m a sucker for simplicity and anything that says a lot with a little. Doyle Dane Bernbach’s use of virtually untouched black and white photography with the early Beetle defines the perfect ad for me. Unfortunately for me, it’s been done, but that does not mean the spirit and idea behind the ad campaign is obsolete. As far as I’m concerned VW should continue promoting itself as the “smart shoppers” car… especially in today’s economic climate. They have the street credibility to do it with their legendary association with the frugal “Love Bug” generation plus they have done a great job marketing themselves with the up-and-coming Ipod generation. Why not take what works and give it a new spin?

Reliability

I’ve decided over the years that some things just don’t die… Old VWs are one of them. Think about it. How many old Beetles and buses do you still see cruising around? Why not tap into that and have some fun at the same time?

Today’s idea focuses on a son and his friends dragging and old, but still somewhat nice looking vintage 1960s/1970s van back to his suburban home. The neighborhood appears well kept and filled with successful family types driving nice cars and watering their gardens as the sun sets on a another beautiful day in pleasant valley. As the son and his friends drive up in front of the house, his father looks up while washing his nice new VW and asks:

Father: Son… Where in the world did you get that and why on earth would you want that rust bucket?

Son: Isn’t it cool dad?!? I got it for $400! It’s been sitting for a few years, but it’s got soul… And what are you complaining for? Didn’t you used to have one of these back in the day?

Father: (begins daydreaming and smiling… 1960s flashback/music playing… A younger version of the father can be seen watching Apollo 11 take off from the roof of his van, father is seen jamming at woodstock with the bus, etc…, attractive young hippie girl leading him alone to the back… stops smiling and begins to look shocked as one of his friends gets the engine running.)

Friend: (at end of daydream) Hey it works! *Girls name* is going to love this thing!

Announcer: A lot of things may have changed over the years, but some things are as reliable as ever… Volkswagen… Always and Forever.

Don’t fix what isn’t Broken

The old saying still means a lot… if it’s not broken, why fix it? Early VWs used this as a selling point with a lot of success. In fact, DDB promoted the idea greatly, portraying VWs lack of re-design as a strength in comparison to the American makers, who often started practically from scratch ever few years. You can thank Top Gear for some inspiration…

A young Mediterranean fisherman is sitting down with a town elder discussing the differences between the old ways and the new ways of his own generation. Just before the young man sets off, the elder tells him that just because it’s new and hip, it doesn’t mean it’s the best. The young man brushes him off and heads off to his ship. While dragging the net of his large ship, he notices he has “caught” an old Beetle and decides to bring it back. He gets the Beetle out of the water with a crane and fidgets with it a bit… it starts. He drives it home passing a brand new car broken down with a man on his cell phone. The fisherman parks it next to a new Beetle and looks at both smiling. A voice says “Although we are in the business of making new cars, we build them with the same values of as our old cars… Volkswagen… Always and Forever”