Annie the Beetle

Annie the Beetle

Annie the Beetle

produced by Third Story Films / @Thirdstoryfilms
directed by: Mike Million
dp: Andy Cutraro
editor: Sammy Yoon
agency producer: Patrick Pho

The story of Kathleen Brooks and her beloved 1967 Volkswagen Beetle "Annie". 

There are millions of Beetle owners who keep their cars on the road, and many people have emotional attachments to their vehicle. But Kathleen Brooks stood out from the rest. A three-time cancer survivor who was still driving Annie to work at the age of 72, Kathleen was an ebullient, caring person, who had relied on Annie through good times and bad. Simply re-telling a story about Kathleen and Annie wasn’t enough: Volkswagen needed to show, not tell, its appreciation for Kathleen’s dedication over the years, in a way that built upon the story, not interfered with it – and along the way, remind Americans of Volkswagen’s place in U.S. culture.

Nobody could have predicted how emotional Kathleen’s story and the resulting 7-minute film would be. “Annie The Beetle” went viral - earning over 2.1 billion media impressions online - while also winning multiple Emmy, Webby, and Shorty Awards for filmmaking. One Youtube user summed it up like this: “This is one of the most emotional things I’ve ever watched. That’s how you do marketing!”

We agree.

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