AP Week 2: Pathos

Anna Liddy

            Volkswagen created the Think Small print advertisement as part of its postwar advertising campaign in the 1950s and 1960s, which targeted the preferences of buyers using unprecedented means. Standing in stark contrast to the exhibitionist advertising campaigns of rival automotive companies, the Volkswagen campaign eschewed self-adulation and conceit in favor of candor, even self-derision. Though the manufacturers of Volkswagen did not have the advantage of appealing to the customary tastes of the emerging affluent society, which was attracted to the machismo of rising horsepower and size of other new models, the designers at Volkswagen gained a competitive edge by targeting the consumers’ penchant for simplicity, as yet untapped. The Think Small advertisement appeals to the consumer’s sense of responsibility and honorability in his social sphere. It invokes altruism and fairness, propounding solidarity between people, a rectified pattern of consumption that favored economy over luxury, and a concern for the environment, all of which resonate with the consumer’s conscience. The advertisement achieves this effect in its command to the consumer to “think small” and in the pride the company takes for the car’s economies. Furthermore, the advertisement acknowledges the intrinsic power of the consumer, employing irony through self-depreciation and injecting humor, which underscores the candor with which the product is promoted in relation to the consumers.