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Volkswagen bids adieu to the i...Volkswagen is bidding a farewell to the Beetle, which will end the manufacture/ production this year, in a new ad campaign called “The Last Mile.” The all-new 90-second ad will be telecasted on ABC and CNN on Tuesday with additional placements planned during the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl games on New Year’s Day.
The video will have animated cameos from people including Andy Warhol, who created pieces featuring the Beetle, and Kevin Bacon, whose “Footloose” character drove a Beetle. The ad ends with the car taking flight as a bug with the words, “Where one road ends, another begins.”
Johannes Leonardo Chief Creative Officer Leo Premutico stated that “when creating the campaign, it was very intentional that we didn’t put anyone person or moment on a pedestal. The Volkswagen Beetle was the great equalizer for society and culture at large. This isn’t one person’s goodbye or a company’s, it’s everyone’s goodbye.” The campaign will also include an influencer element, with users posting moments with Beetles on Facebook-owned Instagram.
In 2018 Volkswagen stated that it would stop the manufacture of the iconic Beetle compact car in 2019 as it looked toward the production of electric cars. In January, the company said it would build a new electric vehicle at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant as it shifts its focus towards zero-emission vehicles.