The German Business Rival

Nationality plays an important role when companies are perceived to be chief competitors in a certain field of business. Especially to counter the country-of-origin effect, rivalries between companies often depict nationality rather than individual businesses. With this type of advertising, a competitor justifies or asserts its products despite the country-of-origin advantage of the competitors, which is implicitly acknowledged. While this was often part of wartime advertising,⁷⁸⁶ it has increased during the post-war years as more and more imports were shipped to the United States.

Two spots by the Japanese luxury car brand Lexus address the effects its cars’ advantages have on German carmakers. The setting indicated in the first spot, “Bavaria GERMANY,”

suggests the carmaker BMW. In a large, filled convention hall hinted at as the

“[Kon]ferenzzentrum Bayern,” the speaker praises and acknowledges the Japanese achievements in a clearly German accent: “Ladies and Gentlemen, the offensive of technology has begun.

Observe: laser-guided, adaptive cruise control, a rearview camera, suspension that lowers at speed, headlights that turn to illuminate your path and curves…” At this point, a man older than the speaker who seems to be the head of the company or division harshly interrupts the presenter in German: “genug!” Then he adds the translation in a gentler tone (“enough”), and asks after a pause of silence: “so, what do we do now?”⁷⁸⁷ The atmosphere, which is underlined by the use of black in the commercial, conveys the dismal outlook of the company in recognition of the ostensibly superior products of the rival.

A second commercial, which suggests Mercedes with the line “Stuttgart GERMANY,”

presents a man who is probably also in his 60s answering the phone in his office. The nationality

785 "[T]he relative obliqueness of the Macintosh ad's visual syntax can be considered doubly advantageous. On one hand, it enabled the ad to suggest a message that could not be expressed more openly; on the other hand, by stimulating viewers and media commentators to spend more time thinking and talking about the ad, the ad's obliqueness may have increased the likelihood that the audience would arrive at the implied message on its own - and that this message would make more of an impression." (Messaris 167.)

786 “Kodak optical systems for fire control destroy the legend of ‘German supremacy in lens making” (Kodak 1944) in: Heimann, 40s 706.

787 Lexus RX 330 “Bavaria, Germany,” advertisement, 2003.

is once again emphasized by the accent and a few German words: “Heinrich! Ja…” Slightly alarmed, he responds to the caller that he will “be right there.” In the following sequence he walks along long, dark, black and white, sterile hallway, looking into various rooms in which the engineers assert the dismal outlook he and the company are apparently facing. In the first room he sees engineers examining the new Lexus, who state, also in a German accent: “they have left little room for compromise.” The second two, who due to their sunglasses conjure images of mad or evil scientists, admire technical specifications.⁷⁸⁸ Aggravating the atmosphere, the engineer in the third room only looks at his superior and then down in shame.

In the last scene, a young female secretary tells the man ominously that “they’re waiting for you” as he walks toward two doors. During the spot, sad music underlines the tristesse and hopelessness of the man, who stands for the company at large. The dismal outlook culminates in his apparently frightening walk ahead towards and through the doors, where he probably faces the board of directors or his superiors.⁷⁸⁹

Both ads depict German companies, and through this also give insight into negative, dull German cultural patterns. The world these German employees work in is dark, colorless, and devoid of cheerfulness. Emphasizing gender stereotypes, all employees are middle-aged or older men, with the notable exception of the secretary and the woman next to the superior in the first spot. The negative stereotypes and images convey a more traditional Germany, favoring strict hierarchies and the absence of gentleness and cheerfulness reminiscent of the dark side of German culture. Similarly, the previously discussed “Überauto” print advertisement depicts a Germany in defeat by hinting at stereotypically negative aspects of the Germans’ tendency to perfection.⁷⁹⁰ A recent Subaru ad resembles a matching exercise, with drawn lines linking the following pairs:

“faster than” with “Porsche Boxster[;] BMW 330XI[;] Audi A4 Quattro”

“corners better that” with “BMW 530I[;] Audi TT Quattro”

“0-60 MPH” with “5.8 seconds”

788 The first states: “Headlights that turn on curves” and the second answers “impressive.”

789 Lexus RX “Stuttgart, Germany,” advertisement, 2004.

790 Lexus, advertisement, <http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/popcult/handouts/adverts/ueber/ueberauto.html> 9 November 2004.

“Germany” with “in mourning”⁷⁹¹

The depiction shows the high level of national identification that cars constitute. It has been shown that automobiles are an important part of people’s identity in Western cultures, which explains why such attack ads also incorporate such national imagery.

Manganaro discusses a commercial in which Chrysler’s luxury car LeBaron (the name itself suggests that it is marketed towards buyers of foreign cars) is compared to those of Japanese and German origin. At first the yen burns, with soft music in the background. The average price of a Japanese luxury car is displayed, followed by the Deutsche Mark, which also burns. Once again, the average price for a German luxury car is displayed. Then the voice-over remarks that the LeBaron is much cheaper: “Introducing luxury for people who don’t have money to burn.” Manganaro stresses the xenophobic nature in ads like this Chrysler spot,⁷⁹² which I believe is inherent in all the advertisements discussed in this section.

Volkswagen’s Critique of Mainstream America

German companies rarely deride or ridicule companies of other nationalities⁷⁹³ or even their American competitors. To stress its straightforward sales techniques, Volkswagen for instance attacks widespread American marketing approaches: big signs and large promises. An exemplary ad of the year 1964 shows a blue VW Beetle with many differently colored flags and signs on it, stating “Save-um!”, “Come in for pow-wow!” and “Heap big trading bee!”

Underneath this overladen car Volkswagen’s opinion is displayed: “Ugh.”:

This is an awful picture of a Volkswagen. It’s just not us. We don’t go in much for trading bees or sales jamborees or assorted powwows. Maybe it’s because we don’t quite understand the system. We’ve never figured out why they run clearance sales on brand new cars. If there are cars left over every year, why make so many in the first place? And how come the price goes down, even though the cars are still brand new? How does the

791 Subaru, advertisement, Newsweek 5 July 2004: 32-33. A television advertisement by the same company delivers the same message: “somewhere in Germany an engineer weeps.” (Subaru, advertisement, CNN 31 August 2004.)

792 Manganaro 22. See also: Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport “High Priced German Roadcar,” advertisement, 1987.

(The car “has many of the same features of the high-priced German roadcars. Except one: their high price.”), and:

GMC Yukon “Not German, Not Japanese,” advertisement, 2004.

793 See above: Savan 233-234.

poor guy who bought one last week feel about this week’s prices? Imagine what a problem it must be to keep enough parts on hand when they’re always changing. And for the mechanic to keep track of what he’s doing. It’s all very confusing. Either we’re way behind the times. Or way ahead.⁷⁹⁴

Picking up on sentiments prevalent in the 60s, a 1969 ad derides another aspect of American life: suburbia. In a typical street in with neat, clean, rows of houses, the ad shows red and white VW Station Wagons parked in front of each:

If the world looked like this, and you wanted to buy a car that sticks out a little, you probably wouldn’t buy a Volkswagen Station Wagon. But in case you haven’t noticed, the world doesn’t look like. [sic]

So if you’ve wanted to buy a car that sticks out a little, you just know what to do.⁷⁹⁵

In the same fashion, a TV spot critiques and caricatures the extraordinary changes in American car design by showing them in simple black and white drawings:

They get longer – and shorter; and longer again; one year fronts look like backs, then backs look like fronts; you remember fins, don’t you? And chrome everywhere; here, and here, and here; one-toned cars were out; three tones – they were the thing; we still don’t know about headlights: are two enough? Four? Six? Eight? And then, there is the

Volkswagen, homely as ever. But everything in it keeps changing. The brakes, the clutch, the transmission; the engine has been improved hundreds of times. Some cars keep changing and stay the same. But Volkswagen stays the same and keeps changing.⁷⁹⁶ Warlaumont sees a personification of social values in such Volkswagen advertising.

794 Advertisement in: Heimann, 60s 215.

795 Advertisement in: Heimann, 60s 261.

796 Volkswagen, advertisement, Automobile Advertising of the 60's. New York: London International Advertising Awards. Video Recording, 1992.

At a time when Americans were in love with the streamlined, tail-finned, ultra-long American automobile powered by rocket engines, dynaflow, and the ultimate in horsepower, the Volkswagen – slow, small, and ugly – came on the scene to personify social values. The ads captured this change, positioning the Volkswagen as an alternative to large American cars and as a way to simplify life.⁷⁹⁷

The addressee of these two advertisements is clearly not the mainstream customer, but someone who tries to take a stand against the established mainstream culture. It appeals to a niche market, which drew its customers mainly from the younger, rebelling generation and which tended to be disillusioned and politically more liberal.