Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and leafing through the New York Times, when I came across this full-page ad on A5.

That’s hardly kosher, is it Doc – outright pirating Volkswagen’s revolutionary 1959 ad? Does there remain no honor among hucksters? (Rhetorical question, of course.)

– Really Bugged

Dear RB,

The legendary ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach really did something miraculous in the 1960s: Barely two decades after the end of World War II, it turned Adolf Hitler’s “people’s car” into an American icon.

Twice. (VW Bug, VW Bus.)

Here’s the other DDB classic ad from its launch campaign.

That car, the ad tells us, was pulled from the line because the chrome strip on the glove compartment was – gasp – blemished.

Drive U.S. automakers nuts graf:

This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance, by and large, than other cars. It also means a used VW depreciates less than any other car.

The kicker: “We pluck the lemons; you get the plums.”

But back to Mullvad VPN. Here’s the company’s pitch, which is a bit of a roundhouse curve.

That “leaks” reference accounts for the black blotches beneath the Beetle in the ad. But we’re still left with this question: Why would an essentially unknown internet provider pay six figures to knock off an ad that only a fraction of its target market might recognize?

Two reasons come to mind: 1) Digital media has made popular culture – like time – a flat circle, so large swaths of people know one of The Greatest Print Campaigns of All Time, and 2) Like Volkswagen in the ’60s, Mullvad VPN is a Euro-upstart battling the behemoths – and seeming to get pretty good reviews so far, especially in the area of privacy.

The Doc’s diagnosis: At a time when your car will soon be driving you and Mark Zuckerberg is driving Meta into a ditch and Elon Musk is driving everyone else crazy, maybe a private Swedish massage would feel pretty good right about now.

Your mileage may vary.