Advertising

The two cars make us think at the future and at the past in the same time, at modern and classical. This is symbolized by the fact that the cars seem to look at each other. They are personified , being the old father and the son, talking to each other, the son asking his father ironically if he's going to tell him again about the 60', that period in which the old car 'the little frog' was a glamorous car, having a great success.

The two in the pictures have the same color in order to emphasize the similarities between them and they are red, maybe in order to suggest the glamour, the strong impact that they have upon people. The dad seems to talk, as the old men, in general, about that period in which they were young, in which they had all the opportunities to be affirmed. What Volkswagen is trying to communicate by saying that "No matter how old you get, you still have a lot to learn from him" is that the new car has his success because it keeps many characteristics that the old one has and that in order to "upgrade yourself", you should take into consideration the examples of "the old".

The famous design served as a model for the new one, but now Beetle is faster, is more comfortable, is safer, it has many qualities that the old one doesn't. But Beetle's success is due to the old one. Like a son has the same physical features as his dad, but, being younger, he's stronger, but he still has to learn from the old man. The wish "Happy Father's Day" focuses on the old model which leaded to the success of the new one. Ideological referent system exploited by the discourse advertising is history. The advert projects the image of a mythical German symbol, in association with the new one.