Category Archives: Advertising
Antique Auto Advertising: America Takes On The Imports – Ford Pinto
For this episode of Antique Auto Advertising I decided to look back at when the American car companies first started taking small imported cars seriously. Oh, there was a brief flirtation with compacts like the Ford Falcon and the Chevy … Continue reading
Antique Auto Advertising: The Three Stooges Pitch Instant Simoniz
The date of this television commercial the Three Stooges shot for Simoniz isn’t clear, but since ‘Curly Joe’ DeRita is in it, this must date to after 1959, when the Stooges had a comeback following the television syndication of their … Continue reading
What You Say About Yourself Says A Lot About Yourself
Here’s a brilliant observation: Corporate slogans are as old as corporations. Some are classic such as “Better Living Through Chemistry” (ironic, too, I suppose) or “The Quality Goes In Before The Name Goes On”. Not all carmakers bother with making … Continue reading
Antique Auto Advertising: It’s The New Motoramic Chevrolet! 10 Jam Handy Commercials From 1955
1955 was a big year for Chevy. It marked the introduction of Chevrolet’s first V8 engine, what would become known as the “small block Chevy”. It also marked a dramatic change in styling from the dowdy cars of the early … Continue reading
The Triumph of the Beta Male. Would Volkswagen Mock Women Like They Mock Men?
I don’t know whether it’s the fact that about 80% of consumer purchase decisions in the US are made by women, or if the Mad Men of the advertising industry have all become beta males, but that industry is clearly … Continue reading
Before They Were Stars: George Clooney and Leonardo DeCaprio Sell JDM Daihatsus and Hondas
It’s known that successful American actors who are past their prime sometimes supplement their income doing commercials in the Far East, particularly Japan, like Bill Murray’s character in Lost In Translation. Apparently young American actors at the start of their … Continue reading
Antique Auto Advertising: Jack Somack’s Teaches Driving in an AMC Rebel
You may not know the name but you’ve probably seen the face. Character and comedic actor Jack Somack started out as an amateur, doing community theater and the like but in his fifties, his look and avuncular affect started getting … Continue reading
Antique Auto Advertising: A Young Robert DeNiro Impresses His Parents With an 1970 AMC Ambassador
Whoever booked actors for American Motors’ ad agency in the late 1960s and early 1970s must have had a great eye for talent. We’ve already posted a Javelin ad with a young Richard Dreyfuss playing a tough young man. Here’s … Continue reading
Is Using an Arthritic Pain Releiver’s Pitchman the Way to Get Young People to Buy Buicks?
A year before Tiger Woods’ high profile car accident in late 2009 and subsequent breakdown of his marriage, Buick already had decided to end their 9 year relationship with the golfer, fortuitously avoiding one of the drawbacks to celebrity endorsements. … Continue reading
Antique Auto Advertising:
1960 National Auto Show, Cobo Hall’s First
We’ve earlier shown the commercial for the ’61 Chevrolets that Dinah Shore shot at the 1960 National Auto Show, the first auto show held in the then new Cobo Hall, and the first time the National Auto Show was held … Continue reading