About a year ago, Volkswagen was exposed for the device that cheated the emissions test. Now, the company has released #PinkBeetle. That’s the cars official name, #PinkBeetle, the first vehicle to be named with a hashtag. The vehicle is advertised on social media and that’s where the demand for the vehicle started.
While the company is certainly paying for its indiscretion, it took a new approach to customer demand and launching a new product. Using Facebook as a platform to advertise the new Beetle is pretty smart. Also, of all of their vehicles, the Beetle is most iconic and probably has a loyal following.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the Beetle has made advertisement history. The “Lemon” advertisement was popular in the 1960s. In fact, the ad came about because Volkswagen was trying to figure out how to sell Hitler’s favorite car only 15 years after WWII. I suppose Volkswagen hopes that lighting will strike twice.
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http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/official-name-volkswagens-new-car-hashtag-pinkbeetle-173738