THE INDIVIDUALIZATION OF EVERYDAY LIFE 311
indicators” such as motor performance in PS and fuel effi ciency in liter
per 100 km (the German equivalent of mpg).^90 This highlights the eco-
nomic, cultural, and social status of advertising, which not only adapted
to changing consumer desires, but was also attuned to processes of so-
cial change.
The marketing departments of the West German car manufacturers
specifi cally tapped into the generally pessimistic social outlook in the
country, targeting consumer fantasies and fears alike. Emotional appeals
gave way to texts about safety, effi ciency, and quality. Images highlighted
innovative details up close and presented cost-effi cient compact cars that
were easy to park. “Driving fun” and “individuality,” on the other hand,
did not return as strong defi ning features in advertising until after the en-
ergy crises of the 1970s.^91 When the Golf diesel model was introduced in
1976, it was advertised as a “money-saver” (Sparbüchse)^92 with good mo-
tor performance in automobile magazines, which fostered its generally
positive reception. This product discourse, which drew on scientifi c data,
targeted heterogeneous and pluralized consumer groups with the aim of
appealing to their individualized desires. After the energy crises in the
1970s, however, the “money-saving” argument became less attractive in
the fi rst half of the 1980s, and it was the sporty Golf GTI that caught the
eye of consumers. Ads promoted this model by claiming it could go “from
0 to 50 in 3.3 seconds.” For careful readers, the ad also explained that the
GTI was not just “a hot rod,” but also it was a “robust practical car made
by Volkswagen that would keep running effi ciently, day after day without
fail.”^93 As the ad claimed, it was the perfect car for everyday driving in
the city because it could accelerate quickly to the normal speed limit of
50 km/h.
Consumer goods of short supply, such as cars, were rare items in the
GDR. They were only really advertised until the 1960s; by the 1970s, they
were simply touted as a lottery win. In comparison to the West, product
advertising played a completely diff erent role in East Germany. Around
the same time as the years of the economic miracle in the West, the SED
reacted to the uprising of 17 July 1953 with its “new course,” and there
was a revival of ads in popular magazines in the GDR. The number of ads
rose signifi cantly in the 1950s, topping out in the 1960s. As of the mid-
1970s, however, product advertising was prohibited in East Germany.
Since advertising was not about the market penetration of products in a
planned economy, it needs to be read as a means to steer sales and com-
municate the socialist lifestyle that refl ected the offi cial ideas about what
people should have within the regime of rational consumption.^94 Both
in terms of style and content, East German advertising in the 1950s still
drew on that of the 1920s/30s. It stressed the normalization of everyday