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What is your favorite car advertising slogan/commercial?


my65riv

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When you look at today's marketing though more hi-tech,it still doesn't match with the older stuff.I personally like watching the old car commercials and the way the announcer would tell you about the car.Especially the ones that bombed in the marketplace.Everyone knows the phrase "corithian leather".what is your favorite commercial/slogan?

Jeff Mealer

Mt. Juliet,TN

1965 Buick"ask a man who drives one"Riviera

1965 Pontiac Bonneville

1960 Cadillac "car with no brakes right now"(my slogan)Coupe DeVille

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Guest 53Bob76R

Maybe showing my age...........but I can still vividly picture the Chevy commercials with the Bonanza theme in the background as the new cars sat on top of the mountain.

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Back when I was a kid the local International Dealer use to be right on Main Street near the High School (around the corner from my house). He had the office in the house, and some of his cars were across the street from his house parked in a vacant lot.

He used to have a big sign that said "<span style="font-weight: bold">SLOW DOWN, SCOUT CROSSING</span>" You'd be amazed at how many out of town people hit the brakes looking for the kid crossing the street only to find an International Scout parked there.

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Guest elmo39

Susan we had the same ad here, and it was a jeep ,although it was probably changed a bit to suit New Zealand conditions. Stuart i googled the toyota ad it was exactly as we saw , one of my favourites

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Although not an old car, the following commercial always stuck in my head. 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGaIe-4-2yg&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGaIe-4-2yg&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

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For those that prefer older car commercials here is something more to your liking. smile.gif

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFXEps2KMJg&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFXEps2KMJg&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

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Oh, my favorite is the recent Cadillac ad, that maybe still running in some venues which goes like this:

"In today's luxury game, the question isn't whether or not your car has available features like a 40-gig hard drive. It isn't about sun roofs or Sapelli wood accents, popup nav screens or any of that. No, the real question is: When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?" You need to hear her voice. Walsh sounds a little bored, her words slightly slurred, as if she were two pomegranate martinis into the evening but with her wits totally about her.

For instance, though she first dismisses the significance of luxury-car features per se, she still manages to list the highlights. And they're duly registered -- right up to where she mentions erotic stimulation and floors the gas pedal in her high-heeled sandal.

Sure enough, suddenly the GPS system doesn't seem to matter. And prostate patients everywhere feel hope. (And so will women, who are sure to see this brazen foxiness as empowering -- and maybe more than that. Unless I am grossly misinterpreting her last line, this sounds like an ad for a $40,000 vibrator.)

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I also loved the "Corinthian Leather." Can everyone say "Corrrrdooooba?" Ricardo Montalban was great for that ad.

My favorite slogans are: "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?" and "The Lark, the Lark, the Studebaker Lark..."

I thought that for modern ads, Cadillac goofed when they showed the 1955 or 1956 Cadillac convertible and then the modern Cadillac thing driving up alongside it. The audience would be thinking...."that red convertible, wow! Which one would you rather have?..."

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Guest Skyking

Peter, after watching 60 minutes and 22 seconds of that video I'll argue with the best as to which times were better..........

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Yep, me too.

That movie got me interested in Fisher Body, which gave me some newsletter ideas, and wishful thinking about investments! frown.gif

Fisher Body Web Site!

CoachGoldModelb.jpg

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Top of the line models were these silver coaches trimmed in gold. Fisher Body authorized the sale of 1,200 of these coaches during the division's 50th Anniversary of the coach logo in 1973. They were available with or without horses. Costing $2,000 without horses, the purchase then would have been a great investment. One with horses was recently advertised on e-Bay by an Arizona owner with an opening bid of $55,000. Only 1,000 models were to be built and the main offering was to GM dealerships.

</div></div>

I'm waiting to hear from Mr Moskowitz, as to how many of these he has in his closet! whistle.gifsmile.gif

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Wayne

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I always liked the "See the USA in your Chevrolet, America is asking you to call" Chevy ad campaign as well as "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?". Chevy's "Jet Smooth Ride" thing was neat too.

For me own favorite cars, 1965's "There's a Rocket to fit your pocket" and 1970's "Escape from the Ordinary" stand out in Oldsmobile's ad campaigns. Their WORST campaign? "This is not your father's Oldsmobile". It damn sure wasn't, and it 1)backfired on them with the traditional Olds buyer and 2) became an object of ridicule among the buyers they thought it would attract. The ad agency and the GM poobah who OK'd it should both have been beaten soundly about the head.

My Grandma was a big Lawrence Welk fan, so I got to see a lot of early-60s Dodge commercials when I'd stay with her Saturday nights. I remember not being able to say "Dodge Dart" as a small kid. It always came out "Dodge Dodge" blush.gif .

I find myself watching old TV shows to see the (then-new) old cars. Sometimes I wish TV Land and DVD sets could figure out a way to insert the original period commercials in the shows. I'm sure TV commercials were as annoying then as they are now, but it seems to me advertising had more style back then. I haven't seen a car ad that made me want to go out and buy that particular car in over 20 years. Cadillac came close with their Led Zeppelin "Rock and Roll" ads, but I thought it stupid to turn loose of that much money on a new car. Ah druther spend it on the <span style="font-style: italic">old</span> cars!

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"That Girl" is <span style="font-weight: bold">70</span>?! shocked.gif

Umph. Maybe 51 is older than I thought it was... she caused some adolescent fever for me too.

Let's stray a minute and remember which car companies sponsored which shows, or used "product placement" to sneakily advertise their product.

We already know Chevrolet sponsored "Bonanza", but they also sponsored "Bewitched" and had new Chevys liberally sprinkled thru that show.

"My Three Sons" and "I Dream of Jeannie" ('nother hottie there, Barbara Eden) showed Pontiacs all over the place.

Chrysler furnished cars for "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "The Brady Bunch", and "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hazel" featured Fords.

Help me here, folks. As many great and not-so-great shows as there have been, all of 'em needed cars which the carmakers were happy to furnish for viewing time and mention in the credits- subliminal advertising? Hey, those cool TV folks have a new ####, let's buy one!

Even TV was better in those days.

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Guest Skyking

Wayne, a good friend of mine recently acquired one of those. I haven't seen it yet but he claims it's in real nice condition.

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Guest Skyking

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rocketraider</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

My Grandma was a big Lawrence Welk fan, so I got to see a lot of early-60s Dodge commercials when I'd stay with her Saturday nights.

</div></div>

Glenn, Welk used to give all his employees a new Dodge each year. I don't know what he did when his sponsor changed to Geritol......... blush.gif

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I like the way British Leyland still managed to market and sell their cars even after the popular car magazines of the day were throwing rocks at them with terms like "an antique you can buy today" or "charming, but terribly outdated". BL used their $50 advertising budget and countered with:

"From the land of British Racing Green, the classically British Triumph TR-6" and simillar ads for their stuff.

I could see myself in one of those, but not in the nimbler but soul-less first wave of Japanese imports. By the time I finally got my TR-6 it was a quasi-collectible, and I always got attention even going around the block. I think that may be in part due to the fact that the then 15 year old car looked much older..

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My all time favorite has to be the 2000 ad for Subaru. I know it's not a GM or Mopar product but....

I went to school with one of the ladies in it!

The ad features Navratilova along with three other female athletes: the golfers Juli Inkster and Meg Mallon and the skier Diann Roffe-Steinrotter.

Diann Roffe is from Williamson, NY and a year younger than I. I did a double take the first time I saw the ad!!

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 53Bob76R</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Maybe showing my age...........but I can still vividly picture the Chevy commercials with the Bonanza theme in the background as the new cars sat on top of the mountain. </div></div>

I also remember the Chevy commercial on Bonanza, I believe 1963, of the Chevrolet driving on the surface of the water of the streets of Venice! Classy commercial. Totally different than the abstract car commercials of today showing blurred, skidding cars, identity unknown until the name is flashed at the conclusion.

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Guest Skyking

Does anyone remember the AMC Pacer commercial where they drive a Chevy Nova inside it to show how wide the interior was?

Wells Fargo advertised 58 Buicks......the B58

My Three Sons advertised Chevys before Pontiacs

Ed Sullivan advertised Mercurys the Big M

Groucho Marks (You Bet Your Life) advertised Plymouth/DeSoto

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There was an old commercial for Plymouth Barracuda where an old woman couldn't pronounce the name, eventually calling it "Bananawagon". All through high school that's what we called every 'Cuda. smile.gif

I also remember the Javelin ad with the goldfish. smile.gif

As for the TR6, there's a guy on eBay selling a dvdr of Triumph ads and TV commercials. Most are for the Spitfire (about 12), and only 2 are for TR6. None of them were aired very often (at least whre I grew up), and they're great to watch. If you're into TRs it's a treasure! cool.gif

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Guest 1926pack

My two favorites are both VW bug ads. The first was a TV ad. Showed a howling blizzard, you could hear a plow grinding away. Then the headlights, then the plow. It pulls into a shed. The announcer says "Ever wonder how the guy who drives the plow..." Then the familiar sound of a bug firing up, followed by the announcer saying "gets to the plow?" The bug scoots out the other end of the shed and vanishes into the blizzard.

The other VW add was a pring ad. Had Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain standing behing a bug. The caption over it said "They said it couldn't be done". The caption below it said "They were right". Seems Wilt did not fit into a bug.

'Course, there's always the most famous "Ask the man who owns one".

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Guest windjamer

Anyone see the one super ball sunday I think about two years ago. A new shiney car leaves the car wash and a swarm of birds try to catch it to dump on it they race for the garage the door shuts and one bird sticks bill first in the door. Dont remember the car,but cant forget the add.

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Nissan had two awesome Super Bowl commercials that stay in my mind.

#1 was a Z racing across the desert with a voiceover: "First they tried to catch me with a car." [Police car chases Z unsuccessfully]. "Then they tried a motorcycle." [Motorcycle zooms past camera]. "Then they called in some help." [helicopter chases car]. "Finally they got serious." [Ground-level camera in the road as Z blasts over the camera. Moments later, an F-14 fighter jet flashes over the same camera about 20 feet off the ground.

They only showed this commercial once due to protests from safety & insurance groups.

#2 was, of course, GI Joe jumping into the toy Z and picking up Barbie at her Dream House to the tune of Van Halen's "Girl, You've Really Got Me." Love the smirk on GI Joe's face as he drives away and Ken stands broken-hearted at the Dream House. Best. Commercial. Ever.

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  • 7 months later...

Maybe I dreamed this commercial as no one can remember seeing it, Help me out if you saw it. thanks. but it was in the 60s or 70s and it showed a japanese car, (dont remember what brand), and a jet car (maybe Art Arfons) at the light tree at a drag strip the japanese cars lights got to green first and the japanese driver is trying to shift as fast as he can down the strip, mean while the jet car driver is waiting for the green, the little car is half way to the finish when the jet gets the green and burns out of the chute he snape the after burner switch and just catches up to the car when the dragstrip announcer says " and now for the stop test!" the jet driver is heard under his firesuit muttering the question "STOP TEST ???" the japanese cars slams on the brakes and wins as the jet flys by with his chute rolling out the back. the driver of the japanese car gets out and dances up and down in victory.

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