{"id":50708,"date":"2018-04-06T10:40:21","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T09:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.influx.co.uk\/?p=50708"},"modified":"2022-06-21T16:54:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T15:54:59","slug":"car-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/culture\/car-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"We are Family: Car Ads from the \u201850s, \u201860s and \u201870s"},"content":{"rendered":"

As long as cars have filled the highways and byways, drivers have been bombarded with advertisements selling the virtues of our four-wheeled friends. The 1920s, 1930s and 1940s pushed cars advertised by women in <\/strong>cloche hat<\/strong>s and fur-lined coats.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Post World War II, the 1950s continued the previous decades\u2019 creative optimism and glamour. Stylised illustrations painted cars as much more shapely and rakish than they actually were, while in the US, it was all fins, space travel, and couples dolled up in their finery. \u2018They\u2019ll know you\u2019ve arrived when you drive up in an Edsel\u2019 proclaimed one ad, while another boldly stated, \u2018They\u2019re driving the biggest thrill of the trip\u2019, and pictured a couple in a futuristic-looking Pontiac \u201956 Strato-Streak.<\/p>\n

\"1953<\/a><\/figure>\n

In the UK, things were a little different. Yes, the two-tone family cars were swallowing a big share of the market, but unlike their US compatriots, the saloons in more conservative Britain were advertised in picnic spots with cavorting couples, or by the same misleading drawings which gave a false impression of the car. Ford\u2019s range of 1953 looked much more sleek in the ad drawings, the Anglia and Prefect actually a little more stunted in real-life.<\/p>\n

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Technology and excitement were key selling messages. The Hillman Minx De Luxe Saloon was \u2018designed and built for years of up-to-date ownership,\u2019 along with \u2018economy hand-in-glove and exciting performance\u2019, and Ford promised that the rakish and US-inspired 1959 Anglia was \u2018the world\u2019s most exciting light car\u2019. And considering women had enjoyed the right to vote for at least three decades, sexism was still very rife, with driving seen as very much of a \u2018man\u2019s\u2019 pursuit. Wolseley\u2019s ads carried headlines such as \u2018I think she\u2019s a beauty, but I wouldn\u2019t call her dear\u2019. Opportunities for women drivers were definitely not equal.<\/p>\n

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With the advent of more widespread use of colour and photography, the 1960s dawned brighter and bolder. And although messages got sexier, economy and value for money also ruled the roost. \u2018Go gay and sing\u2019, screamed a 1963 advert for the Ford Cortina (nowadays that would mean something totally<\/em> different), and three years later, cost was still the Cortina\u2019s watchword, the best-seller being \u2018More for your money\u2019. Elsewhere, Vauxhall didn\u2019t beat around the bush, stating \u2018Marvellous cars, these new Vauxhalls!\u2019, while the 1961 Victor promised a life-changing experience which pre-dates all those \u2018lifestyle\u2019 SUVs of today: \u2018Own a wonderful world, own a Vauxhall!\u2019<\/p>\n

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At the other end of the economy scale, luxury permeated through the car advertising world, too. Wolseley promised \u2018Only as a 15\/60 owner can you fully appreciate the host of luxury features\u2019, also stating that \u2018There\u2019s something special about a Wolseley 15\/60 holiday\u2019, encouraging taking the car en vacances<\/em> like a member of the family. The Rootes Group encouraged potential Chamois and Vogue drivers to \u2018Step up in the world in a Singer and settle back in luxury\u2019, while the Rover 3-Litre guaranteed \u2018Swift, silent power and spacious luxury\u2019. Nice, but perhaps a little worthy.<\/p>\n

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One advertising campaign stood head and shoulders above the rest because of its worthiness, though, and became as much of an icon in creative circles as the car it had been tasked to promote. The New York ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) had been given the account for the Volkswagen Beetle, then a car which was unknown both culturally and generally. Through an extensive set of self-depreciating advertisements which used the car\u2019s faults as benefits, the campaign\u2019s understated look and defiantly no-nonsense copy became a landmark in the general advertising landscape.<\/p>\n

\"VW<\/a><\/figure>\n

The car\u2019s unconventional looks were played upon to great effect, with one famous ad stating \u2018It\u2019s ugly, but it gets you there\u2019. Released at the same time as the moon landings in 1969, the Beetle wasn\u2019t even pictured. An image of the US Lunar Module on the astronomical body illustrates the now familiar layout instead, with the Volkswagen logo the only reference to the car the ad promotes. Other famous VW ads include \u2018Think Small\u2019, whose idea was used again in 2010 with the headline changed to \u2018Think Blue\u2019, promoting Volkswagen\u2019s BlueMotion environmental technologies.<\/p>\n