It’s probably not the best idea to start an ad with “we used to be a nazi company using forced labour to make cruise missiles and also did some shady shit in brasil” if you want to sell cars. But then it might be better to just avoid speaking about the brands history in ads.
The company’s website gives the history all the way back to 1937. Not sure if they skipped anything, but it mentions forced labour and the V-1.
https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/volkswagen-chronicle-17351/1937-to-1945-founding-of-the-company-and-integration-into-the-war-economy-17354
There was a VW ad not long ago that trumpeted VW’s history… back to the 1950s.
Understandable that the marketing team didn’t want to jump into that meat grinder, but still hilarious.
It’s probably not the best idea to start an ad with “we used to be a nazi company using forced labour to make cruise missiles and also did some shady shit in brasil” if you want to sell cars. But then it might be better to just avoid speaking about the brands history in ads.