by Mark Irving
Volkswagen has matter-of-factly announced to the world that they intend to be the number one automaker by 2018, “economically and environmentally.” The company further states that US sales volume needs to be 800,000 to meet this goal. They seem to be on track with 256,000 unit sales in 2010 already being surpassed by 2011 unit sales of 404,900 through October. All models in the VW inventory need to perform well in the US market to achieve this ambitious mandate, including the iconic Beetle.
Volkswagen has matter-of-factly announced to the world that they intend to be the number one automaker by 2018, “economically and environmentally.” The company further states that US sales volume needs to be 800,000 to meet this goal. They seem to be on track with 256,000 unit sales in 2010 already being surpassed by 2011 unit sales of 404,900 through October. All models in the VW inventory need to perform well in the US market to achieve this ambitious mandate, including the iconic Beetle.
The nostalgia boom of the late 20th century brought about a re-launch of classic automobile models. Re-styling existing or discontinued models, those with a strong cultural-historic link, have proven to be profitable if not by increased sales for the model, than by generating interest in the manufacturer’s brand. This was the case with the New Beetle, launched in 1998, that has appealed primarily to female buyers of diverse ages. This “retro brand” was a re-launch of a historic model with contemporary features and styling enhancements.
VW is reaching out again with another contempo-retro metamorphosis (the New-New Beetle?) with strategically choreographed press releases, auto show appearances and web/broadcast commercials and videos. These media events, and the product itself, indicate an appeal to the young, male automobile consumer, an important target that was missed with the 98 model. The show models are shiny black, resplendent with oversized alloy wheels and low profile tires that suggest sportiness and aggression while the squashed, lowered and widened classic shape reminds the potential buyer that this is a Bug on steroids. Gone is the steering column flower vase, replaced by a gauge cluster that provides redundant measurements of mechanical functions being precisely monitored and controlled by the vehicle’s computer. If your really squint, you can almost see the silhouette of the Porsche 356 that, like the original Beetle, was sculpted from the molten, material remains of a reconstructed Germany, but at opposite ends of the car-culture spectrum. Both were preeminent and, ultimately, iconic models for the post-war generation.
The 2012 Beetle customer identity is best illustrated in the “High-5” launch commercial that premiered last September. Gender and age identity markers are established early on with a profile shot of the car with driver: a 20-something, tastefully attired and groomed, male. As the spot progresses, the driver self-consciously navigates through a cavalcade of urban settings populated by citizens in a variety of masculine situations (road crew, policeman on horseback, dog, bike racers). His urban-bro identity is validated by the spontaneous high-fiving between driver and citizens. Any suspicion that the curiously shaped vehicle might not be entirely masculine or unidentifiable is discounted by this gesture of acceptance and approval. As approvals stack up, the driver’s demeanor evolves from self-consciousness to self-assuredness. Identity affirmed, the New-New Beetle owner is empowered by the recognition of not just his masculinity but also his status. Beetle-guy is collecting high-5 acknowledgements of a savvy purchase.
The car is an icon but with style, utility and expense attached relating directly to gender role in the consumption process. The display of functional, scientific, and performance features has replaced the decorative, aesthetic and gratifying aspects displayed in the launch of the 98 bug. This is not to say that the car manufacturer is promoting a stereotype of a gender-based demographic. These are all positive attributes that happen to conform to tenacious associations between gender and role. The final frame of the commercial is a scene of the stylish, yet functional, rear of the car. Superimposed over the scene is “The all-new Beetle. That’s the Power of German Engineering.”
Scenarios of masculine identity fostering are supported by the big city scenics of a contemporary urban environment. The narrative is a carefully crafted expedition through the curiously spotless but somehow daunting urban jungle as re-imagined by the producers. It was hip and masculine to be urban in 60’s America just as urban renewal was getting underway. This was an adventure for upwardly mobile males just as their female counterparts were emigrating to the suburbs, usually with a reluctant spouse in tow. The urban landscape was perceived as a dangerous place, a “haven from domesticity” and something to be reclaimed.
Advertising continues to portray the urban lifestyle as an exercise in stylish living but also one of adventure and foreboding. The urban world was (and is) a place defined as a spectacle of design and fashion, that is all about a cosmopolitan lifestyle. The sports car that was once used to commute, not from suburbia but from an urban apartment to the office, has been replaced by a more utilitarian, retro-contemporary vehicle that reflects a hipness that is more individual, masculine and less cliché. An automobile characterized by utility, economy and style. The VW Beetle is such a vehicle, one that I might line up for if I didn’t have to squint quite so hard to see the Porsche 356.
NOTES
1) Todd Lasa, “Volkswagen Plans for World Domination,” Motor Trend, (April, 2011)
2) Stephen Brown, “Teaching Old Brands New Tricks,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 67, No. 3, (July, 2003): 19.
3) Dick Hebdige, “Object as Image: The Italian Scooter Cycle,” in The Consumer Society Reader (scanned): 125.
4) Elizabeth Fraterrigo, “Pads and Penthouses,” in Playboy and the Making of the Good Life in Modern America (Oxford Press, 2009): 95.
5) John Fiske, “Shopping for Pleasure: Malls, Power and Resistance,” (1989): 317.
