AdAge named the VW “Think Small” advertising campaign (1959) as the #1 campaign of last century. It’s interesting to see how they’ve continued to reference the original work in their advertising for the new Beetle and even other lines.
It’s almost revisionist, though, with today’s car image being prominent, and the messages directly opposite the original, which saluted economizing. Now the trend to obesity is being sold back to us as an advertising message. It’s okay to be fat, everyone, our cars are fat and you are too! Is this a betrayal of the legacy, or a frank acknowledgement that times have really really changed?
