Think Small
Volkswagen1959
Think Small is a 1959 print campaign for Volkswagen, created by Doyle Dane Bernbach, New York.
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The line
Think small.
Why it works
The ad that started advertising's creative revolution. At a time when American car ads promised bigger, longer, lower, DDB sold the Beetle by admitting what it was: small, odd, honest. A tiny car floats in a sea of white space above self-deprecating copy; the follow-up, "Lemon," opens by calling the product a dud (one car was rejected for a blemished chrome strip) before revealing Volkswagen's inspectors as the reason you'll never see it. It is studied as the founding document of modern advertising: honesty as persuasion, art director and copywriter working as one team, and layout, wit and white space doing the convincing. Ad Age ranked it the No. 1 advertising campaign of the 20th century.
Techniques
- Card stacking Calling the car small and even a lemon turns its apparent weaknesses into reasons to trust and buy it.
- Ethos Self-deprecating honesty makes the brand believable at a time when other car ads only promised bigger and longer.
- Humour Wry, self-mocking copy and a tiny car adrift in white space make the reader smile while being persuaded.
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