[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/an-emotional-goodbye-to-vws-iconic-beetle\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/an-emotional-goodbye-to-vws-iconic-beetle\/","headline":"An Emotional Goodbye To VW’s Iconic Beetle","name":"An Emotional Goodbye To VW’s Iconic Beetle","description":"VW says goodbye to a legend, featuring Kevin Bacon, Andy Warhol and more The Beetle is undoubtedly one of the most famous cars on the planet. A silhouette that\u2019s recognised worldwide in an instant. The iconic ugly-cuteness of the Beetle, along with its reputation for being incredibly affordable, the Beetle helped put VW on the map as the car manufacturer of the people. The people at Volkswagen have put together a short video to pay respects to the great Beetle […]","datePublished":"2020-01-27","dateModified":"2020-01-27","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/#Person","name":"Isabelle Lawrence","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/","identifier":30,"description":"Max Wheeler is a leading motoring journalist and classic car specialist at Smart Motoring, renowned for his sharp insight and infectious passion for all things automotive. With years of experience covering motoring news, supercars, and the enduring legacy of classic cars, Max brings stories to life with style and authority. Whether it\u2019s the roar of a Lamborghini, the elegance of an Aston Martin DB5, or the cultural impact of vintage motoring icons, he delivers expert commentary that inspires enthusiasts and collectors alike. Dedicated to celebrating the heritage and future of driving, Max Wheeler is your trusted voice for classic car news and beyond.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Smart Motoring","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Volkswagen-Beetle-feature.jpg","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Volkswagen-Beetle-feature.jpg","height":520,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/an-emotional-goodbye-to-vws-iconic-beetle\/","about":["CLASSIC CARS","LATEST CAR NEWS","Volkswagen"],"wordCount":593,"keywords":["volkswagen","volkswagen beetle","vw beetle"],"articleBody":"VW says goodbye to a legend, featuring Kevin Bacon, Andy Warhol and moreThe Beetle is undoubtedly one of the most famous cars on the planet. A silhouette that\u2019s recognised worldwide in an instant. The iconic ugly-cuteness of the Beetle, along with its reputation for being incredibly affordable, the Beetle helped put VW on the map as the car manufacturer of the people.The people at Volkswagen have put together ashort video to pay respects to the great Beetle as they lay the model to restand stop production of it for the foreseeable future. In the video, theyreference the pop culture influences the car has had on the world. The whole video is styled similarly to AndyWarhol\u2019s artwork, where he made several prints of the famous Beetle and evenone of the legendary \u2018Lemon\u2019 advert from the 60s. Various references are made along the way, from Ren McCormack (played by Kevin Bacon in Footloose, a film that featured plenty of the Beetle) nodding at the car, Andy Warhol photographing it and of course, the backing tune is a cover of a Beatles song (of which, the car featured on the album cover for).The very last VW Beetle rolled out of the VW plant in Puebla, Mexico in July 2019. The company waited a while until releasing the #TheLastMile video and it seems like a very well put together ad for a car that isn\u2019t actually being sold anymore. The video was pushed across various networks in America on New Year\u2019s Eve, as well as shown in Times Square, so we imagine the budget for this to be very large. That being said, we\u2019re certainly glad this little work of art was created!The video ends with the words \u201cwhere one roadends, another begins\u201d so although this is the end of an icon, VW seems to beconfident that their future will not be affected by the loss of their mostfamous car. That being said, the Beetle was not a well-selling car towards theend of its life, with sales and fame never quite reaching the same success asthe car achieved in the 60s and 70s. Interestingly, VW are celebrating 70 years of the Beetle, even though it was released in the 30s. This is not a mistake, but rather an intentional move to avoid the awkward fact that the Beetle was raised in the Nazi period and VW would much rather sever ties with that kind of imagery completely.There are also some underlying themes ofenvironmentalism, which we assume were purposefully placed as VW\u2019s ongoingattempt to heal their reputation after the dieselgate scandal in 2015. Onescene shows the Beetle driving through a wind farm, thus alluding to the greenfuture that the company plans for itself. Leo Premutico, co-founder at Johannes Leonardo (the agency that created the video), characterized the ad as \u201cthe Beetle giving its blessing to the new path the company is going to be going down.\u201d\u201cpart of the reason we wanted to animate thisfilm is to really to paint everybody who’s in it, irrelevant of how famous theyare, with the same brush — to really put everyone on the same footing,\u201d – withLeo referring to the Beetle as \u201can extremely democratic vehicle.\u201dThe Beetle has lived a long and prosperouslife of 81 years (not 70!). Are you sad to see it go?If you enjoyed this, we reckon you\u2019d like toread more about some of the crazy VW ads of the 60s."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Latest News","item":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Emotional Goodbye To VW’s Iconic Beetle","item":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/an-emotional-goodbye-to-vws-iconic-beetle\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]