Oprah bugs her audience

Yesterday, when Oprah gave the keys to a 2012 Beetle to each audience member on her "Favorite Things" show, the crowd, predictably, went wild.

It's a nice bit of publicity to build some awareness for the redesigned Beetle that will be coming next fall, but ultimately I'm not sure it's really worth the millions of dollars based on Volkswagen's stated objective for the new car.

First of all, it's been done. Pontiac gave away G6s to every Oprah audience member in 2004 creating a huge amount of media buzz. How'd that work out for the now defunct brand?

Second, women love Oprah. Women watch Oprah. But Volkswagen wants to increase the appeal of the Beetle to men, thus the new, more aggressive styling. Choosing a venue like Oprah for the first major pre-launch announcement is only going to reinforce the notion that the Beetle is not a guy's car.

Third, the actual launch is still a year away. This car's not that revolutionary. There's not that much to talk about. Starting this conversation now will have prospective buyers bored to death before the product is available.

If Volkswagen is going to increase sales to their stated goal of 800,000 units, they're going to have to be a lot more original and a lot more relevant in their marketing.