Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a "people's car" and the major way Volkswagen tries to brand itself is by being affordable and reliable. This common man's car plays off the idea that a German product is somehow better engineered than any other countries cars.

Volkswagen likes to talk about this by making fun of Germans by portraying their German engineers and even cars as geeky. In this commercial, Volkswagen portrays their engineer as a crazy German scientist who thinks he knows how to "pimp" someones ride. By giving the young hipster a new VW car, somehow he has pimped the previous car that has been crushed by the VW. These advertisements combat the negative stereotypes some Americans have of Germans by reaffirming them in a funny self scrutinizing way. Apart from the commercials being reasonably funny, the message that they are getting accross is also effective. Having a normal affordable car that is engineered by funny sounding Germans is cool.

This next VW commercial is pointing to an already existing game that involves people punching other people on the shoulder when they see a VW Bug. This commercial really intrigues people because it points out how this game that you might have played as a little kid can be felt again by being around a VW. In the commercial, the people punching another person were comprised of all different age groups, proffesions, and races. By adding some humor into the mix VW makes a commercial that makes people feel warm and fuzzy inside while making them laugh out loud when the little kid punches the grandpa in the genitals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ3wgX2Oruo

The brand isn't trying to sell one specific type of idea to the public, but to identify with consumers enough to entice them to buy. The common man approach seems to be working the best for VW.