Phil74Camper wrote:I know it seems a silly idea, but I've shown some evidence to back up my comments. As Prof Julius Sumner Miller often said, "Why is it so"?
Evidence?
Do you really think NRMA make their own advertising images?
Go to an academic library and look at any advertising journal or monograph. Find pictures of broken down cars. VW Beetle will be the most common. Why? Because they are instantly recognisable. Because almost everyone has had a direct or indirect relationship with one. Count up the number of cars in total and find the percentage with a vintage VW in them - you'll find that they are always over-represented.
The ad with the girl, the advertising designers have chosen a Beetle because they are advertising to parents - and rightly or wrongly, Beetles are commonly understood as an icon of first car ownership. They are tugging on heartstrings.
If anything, it is a great ad for Beetles, because it is playing on a deep psychological association created by the image of the VW.
As for the late model with the driving school livery... that is almost certainly a stock image (hence the logo removal) and the signwriting has been photoshopped onto it. Further, generics are a better way to advertise a service. Not every car in the fleet will be the same make. Let's face it, the hatch is a pretty homogenous design, it could just as easily be seen as a Toyota or a Honda as a VW. This ad is selling a service, not a car.
Used car price listing... why would they list every make? They have an audience that is constantly researched. If only a small percentage of their membership are going to buy a VW why use up valuable column inches? And of course, like all publishing, if someone doesn't advertise they aren't going to get much in the way of free advertising.
So when are you going to show us some evidence that NRMA dislikes Volkswagens? Your time would be better spent learning how the media and advertising works.