One of the best print ad campaigns of all time, was the Volkswagen, Think Small campaign. Doyle Dane Bernbach agency(DDB) launched this bold campaign that won Americans over in the 50’s and 60’s. Besides the fact that this was one of the greatest print campaigns, it becomes even more impressive to know a small, ugly, Nazi car made such an impression on a post- war America. Would it have been successful without this approach?
Take a look at some of our favorites from this iconic print campaign below.
We bet you’ll read them.
The Volkswagen Beetle was not sold using a backdrop of a perfect family or luxurious surrounding as many other vehicle ads of both the past and present day. A plain background was used to focus on the car itself. There was no “fluff”. A catchy, sometimes confusing, sometimes one-word line would draw you in immediately to the copy below. Suddenly you find yourself reading every last word. Effective? We’d say so.
Volkswagen spoke with a simple, honest and humorous manner in a world where big, beautiful and outlandish were promoted. Maybe it’s time to revisit that simplicity.
