We used to punch for Minis but we said (IIRC) “Punch Buddy”.
I HATE that commercial!!!
SOMEONE must have convinced somebody that this was some sort of post-ironic, meta-textual thing.
Then again there was the ad for Jaguar (during the Ford ownership). Tune, London Calling. My face: 
Maybe they were implying it’s The Only Car that Matters 
I’d like to make a parody of the commercial where when people spot a VW of any sort they call it out, e.g. Blue One! but instead of puncing someone they do some sort of damage to the VW.
Two guys walking down a sidewalk and see one parked. “Red One!” and then he kicks in the door.
One drives by a golf course and a golfer yells “Blue One!” as he drills a 3 iron at it.
A couple old ladies in their caddy and the driver yells “Yellow One!” as she plows into the side of it.
Another Chicago/Slug Bug person here.
My favorite part of the commercials was that most of the people hit would give their puncher a “What the fuck? Are you retarded?” look. The best one being the guy in the wetsuit who almost falls into traffic.
It’s as though their meta-slogan is “Volkswagen – Cars for complete fucking idiots”
Reamer Beamer
Bruiser Landcruiser
Fart Smart/Dart
Shit Fit (mom really hates this one)
Steamrolla Corolla
Bite Insight
Either than, or a parody where the characters actually assault each other (throwing the other guy off the scaffold, drawing a shiv, whatever). Hey, if you’re going to go around hitting people for such a stupid reason, might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb.
Also, these people in the ads punch HARD! Maybe I was a wuss, but really, Slug Bug/Punchbuggy was more of a token love tap in my circle of friends.
Okay, my brothers punched hard. But they were mean.
How about a Geico add where two VWs get into an accident? The drivers would get out of their cars and start slugging each other, the witnessess would join in, and it would become a huge streetfight. The Gecko could come on screen and say, “Oh, this isn’t good…” or something along those lines.
And then the Cavemen come in on either side and start slugging each other, amidst the ruckus something kicks up from the ground and tumbles in the air as everyone watches it – it’s the money you’ll save!
Well, I see the list of people who could use a good rectal de-stickifying on this issue is growing.
As to the salient points of this thread – yes, these commercials bastardize everything that is good and holy about this game. The game which, incidentally, is called Punch Buggy. You can call it “slug bug” if you want, but the rest of us know you’re simply trying too hard.
Awesome – I’ve pulled that exact same move on my wife. Glad to know I’m not the only one who cheats like hell on occasion.
Speaking of anal rape and car games: Ever play that game where you add “Anal” to the beginning of a car’s model name?
Ford Anal Probe
Ford Anal Explorer
Ford Anal Contour
Ford Anal Focus
(With thanks to the Ford Motor Company for having the best model names for this sort of thing.)
Well then, I’ll tell you of his piece de resistance: Hollering “Oh my god! It’s an invisible car transport truck carrying nothing but invisible punchbuggies!!” And then pummeling me quite thoroughly. 
There’s a running joke between me and my wife about these games. We’re constantly making new ones on the fly. “No, honey, ‘Wet-Willie-PT-Cruiser’ is not a game! If it is, then I’m declaring ‘Hummer-Hummer’ a game!”
So far, our favorite, and the one with the most staying power, is “Jeep Slap”. Slap the one you love (on the body somewhere, not the face) when you see a Jeep Wrangler. Only works for Wranglers, no fair slapping for Cherokees or Comanches or the like. Awesome game.
Pontiac Aztek cross-check!
On one vacation trip, our Punchbuggy game got so competitive that my family was rolling down the highway with fists poised for action. My mom said if we had been killed in an accident, the cops would find our bodies in the wreck, see our upraised fists, and shake their heads sadly, “Punchbuggy claims three more lives…”
Wow! I never expected such a response, especially anything positive in the Pit…
No but I did briefly consider auditioning for Mad Men. Does that count?
Yes, well, nothing new under the sun, they say.
Wow I’m not surprised by a regional disparity, but I thought it would at least be UK vs USA…
NY, Long Island. Since birth *1974
No. No. No. It’s the new Lexus commercial that considers an AC “like a mountain breeze” and wood panels “sprinkled with silver dust” to be hard on inducing…
Personally I’d go for the Hummer…
My friend who lived in California for awhile because of
-
General California hippiness and
-
The overwhelming Volkwagon to anything else ratio being rather high
decided to change it to “hug buggy”…
The Final Word on Why “Punchbuggy” is better than "Slug Bug"
In some regions the tradition is to say “Punchbuggy”, in other regions the tradition is to say “Slug Bug”.
As people do identify quite emotionally with traditions that are hard-wired in youth, it is tempting to allow that both traditions are equally valid. To avoid what may seem like unnecessary conflict one may suggest that the Punchbuggy/Slug Bug variation is to be celebrated as an element of this great nation’s cultural diversity.
Cultural sensitivity on this matter, though it may seem reasonable, is irresponsible and morally repugnant.
“Punchbuggy” is good.
“Slug Bug” is bad.
That is all there is to it. If you say Slug Bug, because you were taught in your youth to do so, then continue to say Slug Bug when you are presented with the true and superior designation Punchbuggy, then you are simply wrong. Your willful ignorance only brings down society as a whole.
Slug Bug is a Spondee
Spondees are for babies. Most people grow out of spondees by the completion of nursery school. If you have reached adulthood and still giggle at spondees you have no business mixing in polite society.
Punchbuggy is a Dactyl
Dactyls are sophisticated and elegant. Playfully executed dactyls show grace and class. A dactyl is a musical avenue of expressing truth and beauty in human experience.
The dactyl “Punchbuggy” is neatly punctuated when the color of the observed Beetle is announced:
PUNCH-bug-gy RED!
PUNCH-bug-gy WHITE!
PUNCH-bug-gy BLUE!
There is a classical rhythm that elevates a simple children’s game to a grand cultural treasure.
Contrast with the boorish “Slug Bug”:
SLUG-BUG-Drrrr!
SLUG-BUG-D’Oh!
SLUG-BUG-Plllft!
In no conflict of cultural variation has there ever been such a clear Right and a clear Wrong.
Punchbuggy is Right.
Slug Bug is Wrong.
On what planet is the word “buggy” less infantile than any other word? “Buggy” is synonymous with babies. Merely saying the word, unless you’re repeating the tongue twister, “rubber baby buggy bumpers,” brings shame to any adult.
“Punchbuggy” is for those who still wet their pants occasionally. “Slug Bug”, on the other hand, is war.
The grunts in the ditches may say “Slug Bug”, but as centuries pass it is the poet’s account of the war that will live on.
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam punchbuggy profugus Laviniaque venit