“However much we like advertising to be a science – because life would be simpler that way – the fact is that it is not. It is a subtle, ever-changing art, defying formulization, flowering on freshness, and withering on imitation; where what was effective one day, for that very reason will not be effective the next, because it has lost the maximum impact of originality.”

Arguably, the most famous ad in advertising.

A trend that the Volkswagon Bus may not have started, but that it certainly gave momentum to, is the use of nicely-trimmed commercial vans as people carriers. This first took hold in the United States in the 1960s, aided by tongue-in-cheek advertising by Bernbach’s agency. During the hippie era in the United States, the Bus became a major counterculture symbol. There were several reasons: The van could carry a number of people plus camping gear and cooking supplies, extra clothing, do-it-yourself carpenter’s tools, etc. As a “statement”, its boxy, utilitarian shape made the Type 2 everything the American cars of the day were not. Used models were incredibly cheap to buy — a majority were hand-painted (a predecessor of the modern-day art car). Some Bus enthusiasts (especially for antiwar activists) would replace the VW logo with a painted peace symbol up front. Since that time, however, the original 1950–1967 Type 2 (primarily the pre-1956 barn-doors) has become a collector’s item with special variations reaching into the North American five-figure price territory. [Courtesy: Wikipedia]

Note: ‘Think big’ was a popular slogan of sixties and seventies America. It was a political and business mantra at a time when industry was booming and entrepreneurs with ‘big’ ideas were praised for their smarts.

“We are so busy measuring public opinion that we forget we can mold it. We are so busy listening to statistics we forget we can create them.”

“Just because your ad looks good is no insurance that it will get looked at. How many people do you know who are impeccably groomed . . . but dull?”

“You can have everybody coming in on time, everybody leaving on time, all work finished on the due date, and still have a lousy ad, and fail.”

“Today, everybody is talking ‘Creativity’ and, frankly, that’s got me worried. I fear lest we keep the good taste and lose the sell. I fear all the sins we may commit in the name of ‘Creativity’. I fear we may be entering an age of phonies.”

“More and more I have come to the conclusion that a principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money.”

“Getting a product known isn’t the answer. Getting it wanted is the answer. Some of the best-known product names have failed.”

“All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.”

“Most readers come away from their reading not with a clear, precise, detailed registration of its contents on their minds, but, rather, with a vague, misty idea which is formed as much by the pace, the proportions, the music of the writings, as by the literal words themselves.”

“Advertising isn’t a science. It’s persuasion. And persuasion is an art.”