Nostalgia Meets Innovation: Volkswagen’s American Love Story Ad Bridges Past and Future
In this year’s Super Bowl ad, Volkswagen launched a nostalgic ad called “American Love Story” to commemorate Volkswagen’s 75th anniversary in the U.S. market and trace the brand’s legendary journey starting with the iconic Beetle. I think this is a great advertising effort.
Break through the market
The ad is a vivid and nostalgic look back at Volkswagen’s 75-year history in the United States. It started with the first Type 1 car (affectionately nicknamed the “Beetle”) imported by Dutch businessman Ben Pon in 1949. It combines historical footage and re-enactment footage, creating a documentary effect full of realistic nostalgia.
In 1960, the Volkswagen Beetle entered the U.S. car market. The billboard on the building shown in the ad reads “Bigger & Better”, the advertising slogan of other car brands at the time, which represents the preference of American consumers for larger models at that time. DDB found a unique advertising slogan for the Volkswagen Beetle that was different from the market at that time and released a series of classic posters, including “Think Small” and “Lemon”, which successfully helped Beetle open the US market.
Integrate into cross-border culture
After that, the Beetle quickly became an economic and cultural symbol and occupied an important position in popular culture. The ad recalls Volkswagen’s role in some of America’s most famous cultural moments, including The Simpsons, Star Wars, and more.
The commercial also shows the evolution of American society’s tolerance for the LGBT community — the two women held a grand wedding with everyone’s blessings and kissed in a 2013 white Volkswagen Tiguan. That same year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two landmark rulings expanding the power of gay marriage. These have strengthened the cultural influence of the brand and helped the Beetle open up the US market.
Take new steps
However, Volkswagen of America discontinued the Beetle in 2019 as more American consumers were attracted to crossovers and SUVs. ECD by Johannes Leonardo Jonathan Santana describes the short ad as an epic story of how an underdog with big dreams became not only accepted but became part of the fabric of American culture. Just like what is said at the end of the ad, “We shape its metal. You shape its soul.”
This is the first Super Bowl ad released by Volkswagen in 10 years. It attempts to use the historical significance of the brand to rekindle Americans’ love for the Volkswagen brand, introduce a new generation of consumer groups, and stimulate the growing sales of modern electric vehicles. The video ends with a focus on Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz, will further fulfill Volkswagen’s commitment to electric vehicles later in 2024 and lead the way in the next 75 years of history.
In my opinion, although Volkswagen used the nostalgic strategy very deliberately, the slow and warm pace also made it feel that it exceeded the original length of one minute. This indeed made old customers recall their stories with the shell cars and deepened their feelings for the Volkswagen brand. But for attracting a new generation of users to buy new cars, like me, the content still feels a bit too bland, and I would like to see some interesting and twisty plots. Compared to the last electric car, after watching this advertisement, I am more interested in the retro-looking, novel, and compact carapace car. If Volkswagen can take the opportunity to sell some peripherals, I may be enthusiastic about buying them.
