Punch Buggy! Yes! Punch Dub? Hell No.

Flickr photo by Martin Pettitt

I love VW Beetles. Old. New. All colors. Love them. I've had my silver New Beetle for ten years now. There's a flickr gallery with pictures of only VW Beetles that I really enjoy looking at. I've saved a ton of them in my flickr favorites.

When I first got my Bug, my little cousin K was the one who told me about the Punch Buggy thing. I must have forgotten about that part. So K was the first person to give me my Buggy punch.

I remember driving past two guys emptying trash and one with great fervor and glee punching the other in the arm. I was shocked at the sudden violence and wondered what had brought that on. Then I realized it was my Bug! It was me. Hee hee hee. I kind of liked it. My car sparked action!

And there are actual Punch Buggy Rules. This is serious stuff after all. Now let me share some of those rules with you. Under the definition of what constitutes a Punch Buggy, the New Beetle does count. Yes!

And to you Volkswagen marketing people who have sullied the fun and spirit of the game, VWs that are not Beetles do NOT count. This Punch Dub thing is way off and annoys me to no end. And I'm not the only one. Read this article by another person who respects the tradition of the game.

Further, Volkswagen is diluting the value and appeal of their brand. Those of us who buy Beetles really love them. Why would they want to take the fun that is directly related to our beloved Beetles and spread it to their whole line of cars? The whole thing about the Beetle is that it's unique. It's not like any other car.

When I see those Punch Dub Days commercials, it seems that Volkswagen forgot who their Beetle customers are. Which makes me think that maybe I place too much importance on my Beetlemania and nostalgia. The next time I buy a car, maybe I should just focus on buying American. Even if I don't love the car so much.

*Updated 4/27/10* Looks like Ford might have the answer to my dilemma. I just learned about the Ford Start. That's one good looking car! The Ford Start might be a car that I could love. But it's just a concept car and not set for production according to Ford's director of strategic design, Freeman Thomas. He was a chief designer for VW and worked on the New Beetle. Now I see. I like his style. It looks like a Freeman Thomas design might be my next car.

*Updated 5/29/10* Here's another blogger who agrees that the new VW commercials are just awful.

*Updated 7/3/10* For those of you who love Beetles, you might like this flickr gallery that I've curated called Beautiful Beetles.

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