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On my earlier blog entries, I used the legendary "Think Small" VW ad, to demonstrate the principles of advertising and graphic design and how they are used. I also pointed out the truly masterful copywriting by Julian Koenig. [Koenig also created the famous, "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" tagline for the Tmex "torture test" ads in the 60's.]
Listed in 1999 as the number one ad of the century by Advertising Age Magazine, this ad is still widely considered to be the the best ad of all time.
Detroit had been busy for years rolling out big, ostentatious cars for the American consumer in a time when "big and ostentatious" was the status quo. Everyone seemed to not only want to "keep up with the Joneses", but to show the Joneses that they had a bigger, more luxurious and more powerful car.
When Koenig (a Jew) and Krone visted the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, they told Bernback that while they hadn't yet created any ads, the marketing problem was quite clear... "sell a Nazi car in a Jewish town." Bernback was not amused. He put them to work creating a positioning slogan, using simple black and white magazine ads in a sea of color ads to drive home (no pun intended) the USP which would sell a strong consumer benefit to the US automotive consumer. Little did they know that the "Think Small" and "Lemon" campaigns would create runaway success for the VW Beetle. Starch readership studies would find that the ads had much higher readership scores than most editorial pieces in the various consumer magazines in which they appeared.
Bernback followed this ad up with yet another iconic ad -- the VW "Lemon" ad with the famous tagline, "We pluck the Lemons, you get the plums."
Ad copy
This Volkswagen missed the boat.
The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn't have noticed it; Inspector Kurt Kroner did.
There are 3,389 men of our Wolfsburg factory with only one job; to inspect Volkswagens at each stage of production. (3,000 Volkswagens are produced daily; there are more inspectors than cars.)
Every shock absorber is tested (spot checking won't do), every windshield is scanned. VWs have been rejected for surface scratches barely visible to the eye.
Final inspection is really something! VW inspectors run each car off the line onto the Funktionsprüfstand (car test stand), tote up 189 check points, gun ahead to the automatic brake stand and say "no" to one VW out of fifty.
This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance, by and large, than other cars. (It also means a used VW depreciates less than any other car.)
We pluck the lemons; you get the plums.
Think it over 
. These revolutionary ads changed the way we make ads. Because of the stark contrast to the colorful magazine ads of the era, these comparatively simple ads stood out, broke through the clutter and arrested the reader's attention. Krone used the principle of "sequence" to lead the readers eye into the headline which contained a strong and compelling benefit, leaving the reader with little choice but to read the beautifully written, simple and minimalistic copy... effectively selling this simple and minimalistic automobile. They "invented" the popular concept of today's advertising design that "less is more."
Here are a few more classic VW ads from Bernbach and friends...
