Z is for zeitgeist
It might have escaped your attention (because it’s not like there’s been a lot of coverage or anything) but 50 years ago this summer, one of the most significant moments in human history took place. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong did his whole ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ thing by striding out onto the lunar surface and becoming the first human being to set foot on another planet. [Technically a moon - JP] It was an epoch-defining moment.
Meanwhile, 238,858 miles away back on Earth, Volkswagen totally captured the Zeitgeist by releasing one of its cleverest adverts ever. And one of its simplest. It just showed a monochrome picture of the Apollo 11 lunar module, with the caption ‘It’s ugly, but it gets you there’ above a VW roundel. There was also an accompanying TV slot as well, which did exactly the same thing but just for 10 seconds, in colour, and with a voiceover.
No other car company firm could have pulled off
