The success of the Volkswagen
Lemon Ad Campaign is nothing short of brilliance and will go down in advertisement
history, as it should. After a particularly, “rough patch” in German history,
the car makers were faced with a significant challenge. How do you sell a car
that the public correlates one of the most hated men in history with? “Office boys
read them aloud by the water cooler. College kids recited them at campus
parties. They were the marketing conversation piece of the sixties. To let the
Beetle and its advertising pass on without a permanent record seemed a crying
shame. For surly, no car was more loved, no advertising more admired.” 1 The
brand completely turned around the public’s impression of the entire brand.
Even after such hard times. “Volkswagen hired the Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency
to create a campaign that would introduce the Beetle to the U.S. market in
1960. Now consider the marketing situation. Competing automakers were building
ever bigger cars for growing families with baby boomer children. The Beetle, on
the other hand, was tiny and, well, ugly. Who would buy it? On top of this, the
car was manufactured in Wolfsburg, Germany, at a plant built by the Nazis.
Given that World War II had ended only 15 years earlier, it's easy to envision
a public relations nightmare. It was in this environment that DDB introduced
the Beetle with a radical ad campaign that perfectly positioned the product and
won the hearts and minds of the masses.” 2 The specific word choice used in the
ad is what sparked the most interest among the public. To refer to a car as a “lemon”
has a strongly negative connotation. Let alone refer to your own company’s car
as such. It sparked quite the stir. “The ad featured a black and white photo of the
Volkswagen Beetle with the word “Lemon” in bold san serif font. Below the
image follows a statement that proclaims that this particular car was rejected
by Inspector Kurt Kroner because of a blemish on the chrome piece of the glove
box. The ad goes on to describe the rigorous inspection process; one out of
fifty does not pass for something as simple as a scratch on the windshield.
“This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance,
by and large, than other cars.” Concluding with a memorable tag line “We pluck
the lemons; you get the plums,” it gives the reader a first impression that
Volkswagen is calling their own car a lemon, while intriguing them to read
further to see that it is really about the rigorous inspection process that
Volkswagens go through.” 3
2. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1999/11/22/smallb7.html?page=all
