EOC Week 1: VW Lemon

-The VW Lemon-

Volkswagen created a very famous advertisement in 1960 called the “lemon”. The world was not ready for such a powerful yet so simple statement. It spoke volumes and revolutionized the advertisement industry. Biz Journals states, “What made the Volkswagen Beetle ad campaign so radical? Ads before it were either information-based and lacking in persuasion, more fantasy than reality, or reliant on the medium's ability to deliver repeated exposure.” To sum up that statement; the creative team behind the Volkswagen Beetle “Lemon” advertisement were not afraid to think outside the box and take a risk…A risk that proved to pay off in the end. 

An onlooker may have turned up their nose at the emptiness nature of the page but “Nobody would consider leaving most of the page blank as this would waste valuable space to get as many messages across Contrary to this, in a newspaper filled with messages, having a mostly blank page allowed the one thing that is most important to stand out from everything else… the car.” In an advertisement, the point is to advertise the product, and Volkswagen did just that. In my humble opinion, I don’t believe they even cared what others would say or think. The importance of good advertisement is to stick to your guns and support your final product 100%. 

The key here was to make the product look expensive and luxurious; entice the public. Make them hungry. It was so effective “It connected with consumers, successfully integrating European small design into a culture with a big lifestyle. This ad, along with others from the campaign, was the first to represent a perfect balance of image, copy and simplicity, setting a benchmark that has inspired advertisers to do better ever since.” Keyword here is: Simplicity. You can do a lot with a little. More is less. These were the terms that raised approval in the consumer’s eyes years ago.