Oprah gives 275 new VW Beetles to her audience

[ButtHead]

AMERICAN TV host Oprah Winfrey gave away 275 new Volkswagen (VW) Beetles as part of "Oprah's Favourite Things" promotion.

In a video clip of the show, the studio audience turned hysterical after she drove into the studio in a VW Beetle. Some were seen gasping while others were congratulating one another.

Oprah told the audience: "I happened to own one and it is one of my favourite things,"

The initially joyous atmosphere turned serious after Oprah added: "I wanted to give everyone one of these (VW Beetle) to you but VW said no."

Then Oprah revealed the twist.

"VW said no, 'Sorry Oprah, we cannot give everyone this Beetle but maybe we can do one better."

"They said we cannot give you this Beetle but how about if we give each person in your audience a brand-new, redesigned, 2012 Volkswagen Beetle?" she told her studio audience.

The new Beetle will not be revealed until May 2012 next year but Oprah gave her audience a sneak peek of the car's silhouette.

This is not the first time she has given away cars. In 2004, Winfrey gave 276 Pontiac G6 cars to her audience, a CNN report said.

VW as maker of sporty cars

According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, Volkswagen is using the show as a launching pad for its redesigned Beetle even though the car's sale date is a year away.

The introduction was part of the car maker's plan to raise the profile of the Beetle, along with the rest of its models, said the report.

Volkswagen told WSJ that Winfrey had mentioned the Beetle was among her favourite things.

"And if you follow Oprah, you know she likes to share her favorite things," Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, told WSJ.

The report further mentioned that the new Beetle was meant to strengthen the company's image as a maker of sporty cars with enough performance to attract enthusiasts and not just shoppers looking for something cute.

WSJ reported that VW will be donating 275 of the 2012 Beetles plus applicable taxes and fees.

 

[QXD]

Looks like crap. Looks more like the old Citroen "frog" car of the 70s, or a rejected Porsche 911 design of the 60s.

 

[Maximilian Chua-Heng]

COE not included, I assume.

 

[War Criminal]

oprah is encouraging the 'sex and city', materialistic, extravagent lifestyle for women all around the world.

american women seem to be living in their own world.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Found the pics on the web. Looks like vw made their beetle lose some fat and gave it a sporty makeover.

 

[zuoom]

like a little like the fiat 500 at some angles. and slightly sharper looking.

 

[Cruxx]

How tawdry

 

[johnny333]

Sure easier than standing around for a couple of days in rain & shine, touching a Subaru

 

[kensington]

Good marketing...Imagine the gossips columns having a field day. Oprah always come back bigger and fatter.

COE ? Only some A+holes in a small housing estate in south east asia are willing to fork out that outrageous and preposterous amount of money to entitle them to indulge in some kind of personalised transport.

 

[shOUTloud]

The white one looks better than the black one.

 

[zuoom]

it's a relatively cheap marketing campaign by VW on their newest Beetle.

say $25K each. 275 x 25k = 6875k

only about 6.9million to get the pretty much the whole english speaking world to talk about the car. and getting people to notice it.

 

[huahero]

Local 综艺节目 Variety Shows should do something like that to boost viewership.

 

[Ash007]

Found the pics on the web. Looks like vw made their beetle lose some fat and gave it a sporty makeover.

Ugly, my cooper S still looks nicer.

 

[zuoom]

one problem. what's the reach of the local variety shows?

Oprah is pretty much world wide. her reach is probably in-excess of 500 million.

what's the local figures? 5 million tops?

 

[sleaguepunter]

Looks like crap. Looks more like the old Citroen "frog" car of the 70s, or a rejected Porsche 911 design of the 60s.

er... i tot all along porsche is a vw beetle in drag..