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Punch buggy (also called slug bug [1] or punch dub) is a car game generally played by children in which participants violently punch each other on the arm upon first sight of a Volkswagen Beetle while calling out "Punch buggy!" in reference to the Beetle's nickname, the Bug.
The first player to spot a particular Volkswagen Beetle calls out "Punch buggy!" and violently punches another player. Once a car has been spotted and called out it cannot be used by another player. [2] The game can be played for points: spotting a Beetle earns the player a point, but making an incorrect call means that they lose a point. [1]
The color of the Beetle is sometimes stated when it is called. [3] [1]
In some versions, a player must shout "No punch backs!" after each call. If they forget to do so, they may be immediately punched back by the player that they punched. [1]
Most references about the game originate from unofficial sources and personal accounts from players. It apparently has existed since the Volkswagen's peak popularity in the 1960s. [4]
Volkswagen ran a 2009 advertising campaign calling the game "Punch Dub", with a fictional backstory of its inventor, Sluggy Patterson. [5] The campaign claimed that the game was started "over 50 years ago", though this is a humorous historical fiction created by the ad agency Deutsch Inc. [6]
In 2010, Volkswagen referenced the game in a Super Bowl commercial, where, at the end, somehow, blind musician Stevie Wonder punched comedian Tracy Morgan after "spotting" a red bug, causing Morgan to ask him how he did that, which Wonder does not answer. [7] The game was also referenced in an episode of The Simpsons ("Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade") and a scene in the Disney film Lilo & Stitch .
Some variations consider the 1998-2010 Beetle and 2011-2019 Beetle invalid for game purposes, but as older models become rarer, variations may choose to include the new Beetles. Others allow "classic" Beetles to count for two punches. [8]
In Brazil, a popular version of the game is played when a blue Volkswagen Beetle is seen. The first individual to notice it has to scream 'Fusca Azul', which stands for 'Blue Beetle', while others close their arms around their breasts and say 'Fechei' (I closed it), and the person who forgets or refuses to say 'Fechei' may have their arm punched as a punishment. [9] A Mexican variant exists, but with yellow Beetles rather than blue ones. It is stated that those rare yellow-colored Beetles could bring good luck. [10]
One author suggests similar games with station wagons, convertibles, trucks and buses. [11]
Bug may refer to:𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚜
Volkswagen, abbreviated as VW, is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-World War II by the British Army Officer Ivan Hirst, it is known for the iconic Beetle and serves as the flagship brand of the Volkswagen Group, the largest automotive manufacturer by worldwide sales in 2016 and 2017. The group's biggest market is in China, which delivers 40 percent of its sales and profits. Its name is derived from the German-language terms Volk and Wagen, translating to "people's car" when combined.
The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German der Käfer, in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, intended for five occupants, that was manufactured and marketed by German automaker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003.
A dune buggy — also known as a beach buggy — is a recreational motor vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes, beaches, off road or desert recreation.
The Love Bug is a 1968 American sports adventure comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, based on the story "Car, Boy, Girl" by Gordon Buford. The film is the first installment in the Herbie film series.
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The Volkswagen New Beetle is a compact car, introduced by Volkswagen in 1997, drawing heavy inspiration from the exterior design of the original Beetle. Unlike the original Beetle, the New Beetle has its engine in the front, driving the front wheels, with luggage storage in the rear. Many special editions have been released, such as the Malibu Barbie New Beetle.
The Meyers Manx dune buggy is a small recreationally-oriented automobile, designed initially for desert racing by Californian engineer, artist, boat builder and surfer Bruce F. Meyers. It was produced by his Fountain Valley, California company, B. F. Meyers & Co. from 1964 to 1971, in the form of car kits applied to shortened chassis of Volkswagen Beetles. The car line dominated dune racing in its time, breaking records immediately, and was eventually also released in street-oriented models, until the company's demise due to tax problems after Meyers's departure. New vehicles inspired by the original Manx buggy have been produced by Meyers's re-founded operation, Meyers Manx, Inc., since 2000. The name and cat logo of the brand derives from the Manx cat, by virtue of the tailless breed's and the shortened vehicle's truncated "stubbiness".
A sandrail, also called a sand rail, rail, or sand car, is a lightweight off-road motor vehicle specifically built for traveling in sandy terrain. Similar in some respects and often mistakenly referred to as a dune buggy or sand car, a sandrail is a different type of speciality vehicle. Sandrails are popularly operated on actual sand dunes. Sandrails can be driven on other types of terrain but are designed specifically for sand.
The Volkswagen Country Buggy is a small utility vehicle designed and built by Volkswagen in Australia. It used parts from the existing Type 1 and Type 2. Production ran from 1967 to 1968. A derivative of the Country Buggy called the Sakbayan was built in the Philippines for several years until 1980.
Up'n Down is a video game developed and published by Sega. It was first released in 1983 as an arcade game, then later ported to the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit family, and Commodore 64. In Up'n Down the player drives a car forward and backward along a branching, vertically scrolling track, collecting flags and jumping on other cars to destroy them.
The Volkswagen Beetle was introduced to Mexico in March 1954, inside the exhibition "Alemania y su Industria". Four different Volkswagen vehicles were brought to Mexico through Veracruz City for the first time. Those vehicles were: two Sedans 113 in "Export" trim, a convertible, and a VW Bus in luxury trim. Officially, the Bug/Beetle was named "Type I sedan" and the Bus was named "Type II station wagon", though variants included single and double cab pickups.
Super Bug is an arcade game developed, manufactured, and released by Atari, Inc. in 1977. The player steers a yellow Volkswagen Beetle along a multidirectionally scrolling track, avoiding the boundaries and occasional obstacle. The game ends when fuel runs out. Super Bug is in black and white, and the colored car comes from a yellow overlay in the center of the monitor.
The Force is a television advertisement created by to promote Volkswagen's Passat.
The Volkswagen Beetle is a small family car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen introduced in 2011 for the 2012 model year, as the successor to the New Beetle launched in 1997. It features a lower profile while retaining an overall shape recalling the original Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle.
Beetle Crazy Cup, released in North America as Beetle Buggin', is a 2000 racing video game developed by Xpiral and published by Infogrames for Microsoft Windows. The game features vehicles by Volkswagen as part of a licensing deal between Infogrames and the automotive company.
Ruska was a car manufacturer based in the Netherlands from 1968 to 1981 that manufacturered several open-seater fibreglass-bodied cars and beach buggies. The cars bodies were built on Volkswagen chassis. Ruska are now an automobile repair garage in Amsterdam.
A car-spotting game is one that is played during a car ride, especially a road trip, where occupants of a vehicle compete to be the first to spot a car of a certain description. Many variations exist around the world. The first to call a particular target either scores points which are tracked over the course of the journey, or they earn the right to lightly punch an opponent.