I think VW was one of the first major campaigns that mocked its own product. As I recall there were also some clever magazine ads connected with that campaign.
That "mockery" had an underlying snob appeal. In the era when many Americans were revolted by "conspicuous consumption" exemplified by US cars with huge tail fins and giant V8 engines, owning a VW was a way to make a statement that you were a "nonconformist" and were hip to the superiority of European products.
Speaking of clever ads in the 60's I always liked the Hertz ad where the guy flies into the driver's seat, and I see not they've brought it back.
Car-crazy kids like me paid a lot of attention to that Hertz ad ("Let Hertz...put
you-u-u-u-u...in the driver's seat!"). The car they showed was a '59 Chevy Impala ragtop. The front edge of the hood had a chrome "V" with a pair of crossed racing flags above it--indicating that it had the 348-cubic-inch "big block" V8, Chevy's most powerful engine for that year. That got us excited: imagine, we (more likely our parents) could rent a real high-performance car without having to buy one! Fat chance, though: the standard Hertz Chevy rental was the lower-end BelAir or Biscayne, with the dull, "Stovebolt Six" engine and two-speed Powerglide transmission.
