Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The online component of that VW campaign

So, in case you missed it, VW is also running banners asking people to vote on what the people want as part of its new campaign. The current vote is about whether people want only one spouse or not, and, as of right now—despite intensive recent promotion about the joys of polygamy aside—the people want only one spouse. They have also voted "yes" to a long list which includes the following: "a colony on Mars," "the coyote to catch the roadrunner" and "political candidates to take lie detector tests." The supposed link here is that VW also gives people what they want, but coming from an old-school VW Beetle with a strong German accent, all I can think of is, well, Hitler—who wasn't exactly a man of the people. Maybe I think that way because my husband was a German major.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth, Catherine, you're not alone on this one. Everyone knows VWs are from Germany. But having a car that sounds like Colonel Klink evokes the company's less than savory origins. The "Das Auto" tagline doesn't help matters any.

I also find it odd that the commercials star a 45-year-old car. It's almost like VW is admitting they haven't come up with anything worth showing since 1963. It would be like Ford advertising their newest models with a 1965 Mustang.

Anonymous said...

has the emperor, perhaps, no clothes? or does the thin air in boulder have something to do with it?

ken krimstein

Joan Voight said...

Just for yuks I submitted a poll that asked if people wanted the old VW bug back. Because frankly when you see the old car, it reminds you how generic and unsatisfactory the current autos are--particularly those from Volkwagen.
It's like showing an old T-Bird or yes, Mustang, or classic Mercedes--compared to what we have now.
I checked and my poll did not get posted. Just all that other lifestyle stuff you mention.