Week one EOC: Volkswagen Lemon

Over the past century no ad has stood out like the Volkswagen lemon car ad, which changed how we continue to advertise today. It was such a big changed from the ads before it’s time, because the ads where a lot more information based and did not persuade the consumer to buy. The lemon ad connected with the consumer on an emotional level, which was un-heard for its time. Another ad from Volkswagen that was a huge success for the company and for advertising was their think small ads. Another reason why the ads stood out so much was the use of television which by that time where in 90 percent of homes. It is kind of a shock that the ads where so successful, because it was a grainy black and grey ad. This shows that how powerful an emotional tie can be in advertising. The ad sounds odd at first calling a car a lemon first thought is that Volkswagen is saying that their cars are not made well. When you continue to read the ad it is saying that the car had little cosmetic imperfections. Also that the inspector caught them and that this made the car a lemon. Not that it did not run well but that their testing is rigged that little scratches make it a lemon in the companies eyes. This approach showed the consumer that the car well made with out even saying that. The ad was very well thought out and helped bring in a lot more creativity in to advertising. Opposed to just listing the price and saying that it was a well-built car they showed us what made it a well-built car. Since this ad advertising is a world different from the times of the past. We as consumers expect to be blown away in every magazine, commercials, and on every billboard. The ad was so big that it was even talked about on the tv show series Mad Men (pictured above).