ONE FOR THE VW FANS - 20 OF THE BEST CLASSIC SOUTH AFRICAN VW ADVERTS
Volkswagen is an institution in SA. Many Volkswagen fanatics are the way they are because their granddad or dad or someone from a generation or two before owned a Volkswagen. Growing up with cool memories from your formative years that feature Volkswagens seems to stick, which explains the emotions felt when watching classic VW adverts. There are loads of them, and they span many years, but with TV in SA only kicking off in 1976, all the best adverts that trigger memories are from the 80s and 90s. Volkswagen arrived in SA in 1951 but the TV advertising kicked off around 1985 with the Citi Golf and all the models that followed. While some brands used adverts created overseas for their campaigns, Volkswagen South Africa created most of their own adverts, and they were among the world’s best with many receiving awards for the campaigns. Some international ones slipped in between, but they were also pretty good. I can list a bunch of the ads off the top of my head, and my memory isn’t that stellar, which goes to show how much of an impact these adverts had. The first one that pops up when the subject is local motoring adverts is The Right Stuff for the Mk2 GTi. That whole Top Gun kind of theme was pure perfection. VW was giving people wings a good five years before Red Bull. Forever Young pulls on the heartstrings, it shows a couple meeting up with a then-new Beetle with flashes of their life up until their firstborn turns 18 and the same car is given as a birthday present. Then there’s the one where staff from VW gathered to form a VW logo in a field, the one with the red, yellow and blue (not green) Citi Golfs, the one for Mastercars, and the series for the Microbus with David Kramer. Have you ever wondered why a Mk2 Golf is called the Jumbo Golf in SA? Well, it's because Volkswagen's ad campaign for the car used an elephant. A jumbo.
Here’s a bunch of the adverts that we could find on the good old YouTube, you’ll have to excuse the quality, back then 240p was the order of the day, and no amount of digital enhancements would bring them up to the 1080p we’re used to seeing as a bare minimum these days. Some are more modern, from the early 2000s, but they also look like they were filmed on a Blackberry Bold. Do you have a favourite not seen here? Do you have any other favourite locally-flavoured motoring adverts?
The Right Stuff - Mk2 GTi
Memories - Various models
People - Lifestyle
Red, Yellow, Blue - Citi Golf
Mastercars - Various
David Kramer - Synchro Bus
Jumbo - Mk2 Golf
Volkswagen Logo - Various
Herbie - Various
Goodbye Citi Golf - Citi Golf
Popcorn - Mk4 GTi
Missile - Mk2 Jetta CLi
Another Universe - Touareg
Lansdpeed - Polo TDi
Washroom - VW Rally Team / Mk4
Tattoo - Citi Golf
Payback - Polo Classic
Beat - Mk5 GTi
Footsy - Polo Classic
Raindrops - Mk3 Jetta VR6