If you're an average American, you probably don't get this ad. That certainly doesn't mean it's complicated or that you're particularly stupid—but odds are that good that the typical American won't ever be even marginally persuaded by an ad like this. Remember, most USians were responding to ads like this...
The image at right is a picture of an unremarkable little car: the Datsun B-210. I'm marginally familiar with the B-210 because when I was about seven years old, my parents had an equally unremarkable Datsun F10—the B-210's front-wheel-drive little brother. Anyway, my parent's choice in cars isn't why I'm...
That's right—today's silly old ads post involves not one, but two (!!!) commercials. The first is for the Pontiac LeMans, circa 1988. And the second is for the ... Daewoo LeMans. That's right—these are the same damned car. In an effort to combat the evil subcompact imports, GM rebadged tiny...
Bikini babes running through a tire obstacle? Who are they kidding?...
Nobody can beat the Japanese for flat-out silliness, but the Koreans are seriously giving them a run for their money in terms of half-serious kookiness....
The absolute best ads in this book span two pages. And up until today or so, the book hasn't been flexible enough to really scan both sides. I'd even argue that it's still too stiff to really scan correctly. But holy crap—it's worth it for this one ad. I'm not...
There are three things I particularly love about this ad.The language is terse and compact. Probably so it's easy to read. You know, for idiots. The women in the red outfit looks like she's either experiencing the wrath of some deity, or has just seen a 2,800 pound cockroach. And...
I admit that I was a part of the 1980s, but I was most certainly not around when they were making this schlock....
Any commercial featuring SUPER POTENTIAL is automatically good enough to be featured here. Enjoy a hilariously Japanese commercial for the hilariously Japanese Mitsubishi Starion. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on in the first five seconds of this commercial. What the hell are those, giant floating space buttocks?...
How else could you explain buying a bunny something as awful as a 1975 Subaru? And if you're into reading the quasi-fine print, you'll notice that this particular Subaru is backed by an Unlimited Mileage Warranty—and it's even covered for an entire 12 months! P.S. Ha ha, an entire category...
...so they build "a woman's car." Oversized, hopelessly automatic and dull. It's too bad you can't find ad copy like that anymore. Sigh....
I'm hooked on goofy old car ads. Doubly so with 1980s goofy car ads. Come on in take the wheel light it up !!!1! get the feelin' Time to escape, indeed....
Even considering today, when two of the big three automakers are hanging on to their lives, and all three are barely treading water in terms of making reasonable cars, I don't think there's ever been a darker age for American auto manufacturers than the late 1970s. Nearly everything Detroit was...
I'm in the middle of writing a collectibles article that won't be done in time for tonight's post. It's about an Aston. Stay tuned. But, I did get the scanner working, so I've pulled this ad out from the absolutely awesome book that Rob got for me. Oh man, that's...
What could be better than a commercial that starts out with a kid skeet shooting?...
