What advertising agency created Volkswagen's famous "Think Small" campaign in the United States?

Volkswagen’s famous “Think Small” campaign in the United States was created by Doyle Dane Bernbach, commonly abbreviated DDB. The campaign began in 1959 and helped turn the modest Beetle into a major American advertising success.

At a time when American cars were becoming larger, more powerful, and more decorated, DDB’s advertisements made the Beetle’s small size and unconventional appearance the focus rather than a defect to hide. The approach used spare layouts, a small car image, and witty, self-aware copy. Julian Koenig wrote the original copy, while art director Helmut Krone shaped the campaign’s distinctive visual style.

The campaign is often remembered as more than a successful car promotion. It helped popularize a creative-team model in advertising, pairing copywriters and art directors closely, and it made honesty and understatement persuasive selling tools. A common mix-up is attributing the work to Volkswagen’s later global marketing or to a different Madison Avenue agency; the original American campaign belonged to DDB.