Most car advertisements today are pretty tame. Maybe some well-spoken narrator will tell you about the vehicle’s off-roading capabilities, fuel economy, or price. During a Super Bowl, you might see longer ads with a story, some humor, and even a short plot. Some commercials are just plain fun. I mean, the George Washington Dodge commercial is still a good watch. It won’t embed, so just click here.
See, it’s so silly! The ad in the topshot looks totally silly, but makes more sense as a full spread. Still, I find myself laughing. “Where are we going?” “Wouldn’t you like to know!”
Vintage car ads arguably do it better. This morning, the Bishop published a Cold Start showing what appears to be a manufacturer photo of an Opel GT. Upon first glance, the theme of the photo seems to be clear enough. Drive an Opel GT and the women will stare at you while some random dude fails to get out of the pool because darn it, a distracted lady is in his way.
But wait, hold on. Study this photo more and you see that the driver of the Opel is holding a Playboy as he looks at the women. Did he just park his car next to the pool and strip down there? What’s even going on here?
It doesn’t matter, because you had a field day with it. Boulevard_Yachtsman takes one COTD win for this hilarious line:
Hey look – it’s the seldom talked about Werther’s Original porn promo.
And the famous Toecutter somehow does one that makes you cringe while you laugh:
♫So creamy golden, just plain good. Werthers, and that feeling that you never will forget…♫
Finally, we have Mike Harrell with a witty comment about transparent fuel doors:
“Transparent fuel doors. Have you ever seen these?”
Well, no, at least not the successful ones.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite modern ad series:
I wish more automakers embraced normal cars like this. Have a great weekend, everyone!
I’ve never figured out where Madison Avenue found all of the 5/8 scale people in ’50s car ads. Look at all the room in that tiny (by today’s standards) Dodge convertible!
They might have intentionally hired the smallest people they could find to make the car look big, but interior space in pre-crash-standards cars is surprisingly large for the most part.
There was a 1960s VW commercial with Dustin Hoffman was was hired partially bc he is small stature and therefore make the Type 3 fastback look bigger…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3RD-hG4nbc
I didn’t mention it in the original story on the Opel, but under close inspection, the chick on the cover of the playboy is the same as the one in the leopard print bikini. Had to open in a new window in order to zoom in enough for details.
Wow, you put a lot of effort into inspecting that magazine…
I can appreciate that.
Careful, you might go blind if you do that too much!
Straining your eyes like that can’t be good for ’em.
Good ones! The transparent fuel door reminds me of a horrible joke.
Will transparent glass coffins catch on as a trend? Remains to be seen.
IDK, but window-side hearses that show off the fancy coffin inside are definitely a thing.
People who think an old house or a boat are money pits have not shopped for coffins. Talk about throwing your money away…
ba-dum-tishhhh
(seriously, those could be less expensive)
The only blindfolding I’ve seen happen in a car was on a ski trip with some buddies. Ahh, minivans. Good for cramming in 6 still normal size late teens and their ski gear. Shenanigans happened, all in good fun and everyone still talks to each other many years later.
Were Werthers involved?
Because I think I’ve seen that movie….
First thought on seeing the lede pic was the joke about how I’d like to die peacefully in my sleep like grampaw did—not screaming & crying like his passengers.
I’ve never seen the Yaris commercials before—but perversely enjoyed them. I do wonder if anyone on the team remembered the old lying Joe Isuzu spots. These aren’t directly related, but they do seem to twist 90° from normal advertising as the Isuzu ones did
Many people thought the cult of people blindly going into Dodges with grins on their faces had gone away. Unfortunately, recent Hornet purchases prove otherwise.
Take your like!
Did you know that the 2006-2011 Yaris has three glove boxen?
Mine, as you can see, is blue.
It’s a car.
Also, that Dodge ad has put a certain Enya song in my head.
Ah, but, which blue?
The one with the clearcoat that didn’t hold up.
Wait, that didn’t narrow it down.
The blue with the clearcoat that really didn’t hold up.
That Yaris thing was really good. Looks like they had fun making it “take me to the zoo”
Thanks Mercedes! Toecutter’s reply got a spit-take from me earlier, and now I can’t quit giggling at your Werther’s-production photoshop.
I imagine those models are old enough to be handing out the famous creamy golden treats these days. And ya-know, grandmas need love too, so perhaps the movie version of the poster is still in the works.
Your comment set the situation up so perfectly to use the corporate jingle as a reply:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVD6s8svvrI
The BMW M5 E39 land speed commercial was clever and well done.
https://youtu.be/ZpxROcXyGcQ?si=aEschZmGg4ORafs2
I feel really lucky in that I have never seen -any- of the commercials before. Or I am just that good at avoiding them?
This reminds me of that Buick commercial in the ’90s where the premise was they went to Germany and kidnapped a German engineer and asked him to tell what car he was riding in while driving around blindfolded in the back seat. He feels the GM partsbin black plastic switchgear on the door and remarks quality workmanship, so it must be an Accord, and it keeps going from there. They played the hell out of that one.
“Well, it can’t be a Mercedes, because this isn’t a Ford Granada….”