Thanks alot for your comment John! I'll check out the newest dealer ad later today (::WAVES FINGER:: And you all out there should too.) I'm happy (Sad? Apathetic?) to report that I too have crossed from the Euro market to the Japanese market due to scratchlessness issues. I am the proud owner of a 2006 Nissan Sentra! So far, it's holding its own and I can fill the tank for just $20. Cool! I still wouldn't mind having a 240 Volvo as an occasional beater-mobile! When it comes to cars, we often must sacrifice cool for practical. But then cool becomes 34MPG on the highway! Cool! See?

The dealers hate them. I represent two VW stores who have continued to see sales fall flat in the last 4 years. The early work Arnold did for the brand is constantly mentioned in our marketing meetings. The new ads, they tell me are made fun of by the customers who are still buying VW in spite of the campaign. The sales woes are not entirely the fault of the ads, as QC has indeed become a major problem and the price point has risen far too high. The “young” buyers of the nineties have grown up and aren’t about to spend upwards of forty large for a car that doesn’t have a Beemer logo on it. The kids don’t have that kind of scratch, so they just buy Japanese imports. Another problem was how long it took for VW to introduce a new line of redesigned cars, and when they finally did, they were received poorly. The New Jetta is the New Camery. That’s hardly cool. Audi (same company) seems to be picking up a lot of the old VW buyers, but that doesn’t help the VW dealers and certainly doesn’t bode well for the VW brand. I’m just glad I’m not being blamed for my VW dealers problems. PS. Have a look at our latest VW dealer ad and let me know what you think. Thanks www.obsidianmedia....

It's still a sad day in the auto world...and it only rains three months out of the year in my neck of the woods.

The new ads don't really follow the original branding executions anyway. The original stuff showed you that VW was practical, but cool. How does showing that the VW now comes with a fold up umbrella that is located in the trunk supposed to let the consumer know it's cool? I think they should start thinking about what drives people NOT to buy VWs and address those issues first.

I'm excited to see what CP+B will do for the brand and whether the "Drivers Wanted" line will disappear or not. But I'm also very sad to see them lose the Mini brand that they pretty much CREATED because of it.

Now that I think about it, the stickers don't even stick that well...It's a sad day for the automotive world.

Good point on the VW challenges. They've strayed not just from their brand, but I've heard a lot of chatter about how product quality has gone down recently. If this chatter grows, maybe Arnold could be the one holding the long straw in the matter.

NICE Mike. Imagine being with CP+B and having to say, "Hello VW, my name is Mike Cox, and I'm going to explain to you how we're going to get you, VW, back to VW standards..."

I have to agree with Kevin and Jessica. The ads just aren't that good. It seems they are trying to force substance where there is none. Of course VW is a good brand, but that mainly stems from associations that still linger from the 60's. What does VW really stand for today? The idea that they are a force of good just seems trite and inconsequential. The ads are never going to be able to be anything great until VW the company becomes something great, or at least takes a point of view. I think CP+B will be a good place for them. Hopefully Crispin will go beyond the ads and help VW understand who they really are, which should cut down on a brand that brings you the happy-go-lucky Beatle and the ultra luxury Phaeton. VW just seems to be terribly confused. CP+B will have a lot of work to do, helping they get away from that before they can really start creating great ads for them.

Good point Kevin. Certainly VW has done alot more in the past to boost their brand than now. Still. We're talkin' STICKERS here! Didn't your teachers used to give you a sticker when you got an A on a test? Mine did. And with these ads, it's like I get an A without doing anything.

They're not even a hiccup of creativity compared to the long line of brilliance that VW has been. I mean, do we not study the VW print ads of the 60's and 70's? When we think Woodstock, we think a VW van.

And now we equate a can of sardines, or Mexican Federales dissecting a car, and, *what* again?

VW is now at CP+B for a big reason. If you were VW right now, where would you go to make your next commercial -- those making Burger King spots, or those doing Royal Caribbean?

I personally have not seen the ads yet, but in my portfolio class last week a girl did bring them up. She, however, had nothing nice to say. I mean, her argument wasn't incredibly strong - I think she said they were "stupid" and something else along those lines - but whatever she thought it was not a well received ad. When she was describing them, I thought that it sounded cool and fun, but slightly anti-climatic (Here's the good car, here's the bad thing in sticker form, now they are next to each other, now the good is obviously better??) . Sure the VW/Bug brand is a "good" and fun one, but I don't think I'd be intrigued but the Bug vs. _____ for very long. Definitely not long enough to be interested in buying.

Remember that spot where one good deed is exchanged for another all stemming from a smile at a VW Beetle ... Forces Of Good seems to work like the Budweiser laugh spots, just a witty reminder/extension of the brand's personality. It seems fun, but does it make a car-shopper put VW into their consideration set? I still have pictures saved on the back of my college ID from a Polaroid print campaign many years back, but never bought the camera. I do like how they had to use the word “banana hammock” instead of Speedo.