Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Guys new week, get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, or bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $5.83 a bushel, dipped below the $6 mark. You know what? 550lb steer calves aren't selling much right now. I'll tell you what a bred cow will bring up to $3,975. Bred cow. And a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $3.05 a pound, on the top end. But, guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:Okay. What about this rain, guys? Huh? A million dollar rain if I might say so myself. Oh, you know? As I think about it, I better rephrase that to a multimillion dollar rain. Let's just look at the cattle business for a second.
OK Solberg:Steer calves are being contracted already for fall delivery, and they're locking in a price of $3,000 per calf. Are you kidding me? 1,000,000 divided by 3,000 is 334. 334. It only takes that many steer calves to make a million bucks today.
OK Solberg:Well, believe you me, 334 is only half of some ranchers herd. So this rain will feed all the calves in Phillips County plus grow the alfalfa and dry land hay plus the wheat, barley, and oats. What I'm getting at is this rain is a multimillion dollar happening. Let's sing hallelujah.
OK Solberg:Do you think I can find an appropriate bible verse? Do you? Listen, Psalm 147:7-8 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Make melody to our God on the lyre. He covers the heavens with clouds. He prepares rain for the earth. He makes grass grow on the hills. Again, Psalm 147 verses seven and eight.
OK Solberg:If that isn't fitting, then there's something in plain sight you haven't yet recognized. Well, if that isn't fitting, maybe the problem isn't the shoe. Okay. Not only is it wet outside, it's Monday, and that means it's Jay and Joe's Motor Monday, the day we look at horsepower one Monday at a time.
OK Solberg:And today, we're gonna look at Volkswagen and specifically the Beetle, slug bug for safety, no slugs back. But not just horsepower of this little machine, but the clever advertising that the company used.
OK Solberg:Did you realize Volkswagen ads from the 1960's & 70's are still being studied today and used as a benchmark for high shelf quality? Let's look at some of the Volkswagen Beetle ads. One ad that was in a magazine like Life Magazine or Look Magazine, you remember those.
OK Solberg:The headline, all it says is think small. That was it. And a tiny beetle sat in a sea of white space while competitors filled pages with giant illustrations and endless boasts, Volkswagen turned its biggest weakness, the beetle's small size, into its greatest strength. Easier parking, less fuel, lower cost. The ad practically whispered while everyone else was shouting.
OK Solberg:Another ad for the Volkswagen Beetle was this. The headline said, Lemon. Huh? In America, calling a lemon means it's defective. Readers were shocked. Then the copy explained that this particular beetle had been rejected at the factory because of a tiny cosmetic flaw. Volkswagen was saying, we are so picky that we throw out cars other companies might sell. It was a master class in honesty and humor.
OK Solberg:And my favorite guys, my favorite was a television commercial. 1967-68 You see two houses sitting side by side in urban America. The driveways are right next to each other. It's titled keeping up with the Keplers. Mr. Jones and Mr. Kepler were neighbors. They each had $3,000. With his money, Mr, Jones bought himself a $3,000 car.
OK Solberg:And you see this car pull into the driveway. With his money, Mr. Kepler bought himself a new refrigerator, a new range, a new washer, and all the while on your television screen, you can see the delivery man one after another carton those items into his house. A new refrigerator, a new range, a new washer, a new dryer, a record player, 2 new television sets, and a brand new Volkswagen. And you see the Beetle drive into the driveway. And the ad ends.
OK Solberg:Now Mr. Jones is faced with that age old problem, keeping up with the Keplers. And there the add ends. Oh, boy. It sold Volkswagen Beetles. It sure did. You asked, did it work? Well, let me tell you. That ad campaign worked. It sold cars in 1967. In 1968, Volkswagen sold over 743,000 Volkswagen Beetles.
OK Solberg:That's a squeak off three quarters of a million cars in 2 years. Oh, and could you really purchase all that merchandise that was mentioned in the ad? Oh, of course, you could. You gotta know a candy bar cost a nickel.
OK Solberg:There. I did an entire episode on the Volkswagen Beetle and never once mentioned the 1977 attempted bank robbery in Hinsdale, Montana where the getaway car was a Volkswagen Beetle.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, keep the rain coming. Don't be bitter.