Advertising Lemons.

In the 1960s, Manhattan ad agency Doyle Dane Bernback (DDB) partnered with VW to produce some of the most famous car ads in history. 

Think Small. Lemon., we’re familiar with the format, often revered, replicated and reproduced.  A photo of the car. A snappy slogan. A few columns of copy, often downplaying the benefits.

The Think Small ad was so effective that the Beetle went on to outsell all other foreign-made cars in 1960s America. 

From the headlines to the humour, art director Helmut Krone and copywriter Julian Koenig overturned the tried and tested ad agency approach to selling cars with their first campaigns for VW. Find out how they did it by reading Lemon: Volkswagen Ad that Forever Changed America on MADX.

Writing

Choose a product that you’d like to see get the VW treatment in its advertising. Can you replicate these early ads for your chosen product? A short headline of one or two words and a hint of humour.

We’d love to see what you come up with, if you’d like to share.

Photo by Erik Odiin on Unsplash