Bill Bernbach Retrospective
Volkswagen advertising is unique in the history of automobile advertising, if not all advertising. Its tone, style, wit, irreverence have been imitated, mimicked, swiped, copied, misunderstood, and admired more than any campaign before or since.
It was created by colorful people at Doyle Dane Bernbach and at Volkswagen of America, and in fact, it created colorful people by virtue of their association with it.
It was the DDB shot that is still heard around the world.
It is the classic story of a client with limited funds and unlimited vision, with faith in a wonderful product, who came to Bernbach's agency.
Bill Bernbach saw the Volkswagen car for what it was: honest, simple, reliable, sensible, different. And he wanted the advertising to be that way too.
The temptations and pressures to do "mainstream" car advertising were considerable. Bill's resistance was greater. "The product. The product. Stay with the product." Simple.
When the VW campaign became established, there were other temptations at DDB: to out-VW VW itself, to be clever for its own sake. And Bill again: "The product. The product. Stay with the product."
Simple.
All the copiers and all the misunderstanders were doomed because they weren't selling Volkswagens and he was.
Simple.
In the end, the manufacturing philosophy and the advertising philosophy became one and the same. Volkswagen spoke with one voice throughout the world, and people everywhere recognized that voice.
- Bill Bernbach's Book
The following four Volkswagen print ads represent the philoshophy of Bill Bernbach:
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| 1960 - Lemon. This groundbreaking ad set the standard for simplicity. | 1962 - Multicolor. Emphasized the simplicity of VW, namely that its parts were interchangeable from year to year. | 1963 - $1.02 a pound. Focused on excellent value, boldly stating that "pound for pound, a VW costs more than practically any car you can name." | 1977 - Or buy a Volkswagen. Presented during the period when gas prices soared, this ad states the practicality of VWs, which were among the best cars in the U.S. in terms of highest mileage per gallon |
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