From 1959, the New York agency Doyle Dane Bernbach advertised the Volkswagen Beetle in America. The ads did not pretend the car was beautiful. One tagline was “Ugly is only skin-deep.” A 1969 ad said: “It’s ugly, but it gets you there.”
Other ads sold what the car did. They praised its air-cooled engine and its easy-to-find spare parts. They also said the factory had more inspectors. In 1999 Advertising Age named it the best advertising campaign of the century.