By: Steven Heller | August 11, 2010
Have you heard the joke about advertising Volkswagen back in the 50s, attributed to George Lois?When his agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach, had the account, he said thechallenge was to sell a “Nazi car in a Jewish town.” And so they did.
The adsthat emerged from Doyle Dane Bernbach in the 1950s (no, not the Naziera one below top) succeeded in putting the volk in the joke and takingthe Nazi sting out of das VW; the result was the cute little beetle.
The Swastikawas outlawed in Germany but the VW logo lives on. The beetle ads werenot the only VW successes. The advertisements for the Volkswagen minibus (also known as the “Hippie Van”) were equally bright and witty, aswas the emblematic vehicle. Check out the ads below as examples of thebest automobile advertising ever produced. You will agree!! Nein?!!Yahwol!!
