VOLKSWAGEN | KAFERKILLER | 1970
The Mystery Behind the Name "Beetle Killer" / VOLKSWAGEN "KAFERKILLER"
This is VW's piece that won the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 1970. The title is "KAFERKILLER." Käfer is German for beetle, meaning the Beetle. Killer means, well, killer. I've always been curious what an ad looked like where VW declared it was "killing" its own icon.
The problem
1970 was the year VW rolled out the new 1302. It had MacPherson strut suspension, a 50-horsepower engine, and more interior space. The Beetle kept evolving, and in America alone it was selling 570,000 units a year. This was during the golden age with DDB, a time when VW and DDB were talked about in the ad world as the "ultimate pairing."
What happened
What remains on record is that it won the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. This award alone tells you just how much influence DDB's work had back then.
Afterthought
The video survives, but almost no record remains of the thinking behind it or how it was made. It's a piece that made its mark on advertising history, so why is there so little information about it? Only that striking name, "KAFERKILLER," has crossed more than fifty years to keep stirring up curiosity. I hope someday someone solves this mystery.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 1970
