By Matthew Millard-Beer

What’s in a brand nick-name?

The Volkswagen Beetle, was produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003. The car was conceived as a cheap simple car, and it was commissioned by Adolf Hitler and designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

With over 21 million manufactured the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single design platform, worldwide.

Not many know though that the the car was officially called Volkswagen Type 1, and it was the public, not VW, that named the car (amongst many other nick-names) the Beetle.

The Beetle is perhaps the ultimate case of a brand democracy, and just goes to show that some of the worlds most powerful brands are indeed created and named for the people by the people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Rrl6Lka18

 

 

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