In what must be a record in the advertising industry, the Campbell Ewald agency of Detroit created General Motors’ marketing campaigns for more than 90 years. The marriage began in 1919 when the firm produced Chevrolet’s first advertisement that appeared in 45 newspapers. In 1922, Campbell Ewald was awarded all of GM’s marketing business.
(Photo at top of page: Vintage Life Magazine Chevrolet Ads.)
The two companies eventually severed ties in 2010, but through the decades a number of epic campaigns were produced. Even today, those ads and their musical jingles invoke fond memories for those of us who are part of the Baby Boomer generation.
For this landmark ad, and a prior version a decade earlier, a new Impala was placed atop the 1,500-foot Castle Rock in Utah.
Who can forget television star Dinah Shore’s rendition of “See the USA in Your Chevrolet”? Campbell Ewald introduced that in 1948 just in time for the pioneering TV generation. Nine years later the agency was the first to produce color TV commercials—long before color televisions became mainstream.
In the 1960s, most families with television sets tuned in each week to watch the latest episode of the blockbuster western “Bonanza.” Chevrolet was a major sponsor. I admit that as a car-crazed youth, I enjoyed the commercials as much as the program. In 1962, there was one unique six-minute spot introducing Chevy’s all-new models.
Chevrolet chose the annual Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit to unleash a series of unique billboards that feature some of Chevy’s greatest creations of the past.
Another notable Chevy ad from that era appeared in 1964, when a new Impala was placed atop the 1,500-foot Castle Rock in Utah. You remember that one?
In the same vein as those iconic Volkswagen ads of the 1960s (“Think Small,” “Lemon”, “It Makes Your House Look Bigger”), later Chevrolet marketing campaigns were made famous by employing one-liners that still ring a bell for Bowtie loyalists. In 1975, it was “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet.” In 1985, “The Heartbeat of America” slogan began a four-year run while the popular “Like a Rock” campaign for Chevy Trucks first appeared in 1991.
In recent years, Chevrolet chose the annual Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit to unleash a series of unique billboards that feature some of Chevy’s greatest creations of the past. And perhaps in a subliminal way, the signs also celebrate Detroit’s proud legacy of being known as the Motor City.
Whether you’re a Chevy or not, the billboards accomplished their nostalgic mission using a simple image and imaginative text. Who cannot chuckle upon admiring the bat fins of a ’59 Impala with the words “Remember when your cup holder sat next to you and wore a poodle skirt?”
Or perhaps it’s an image of a ’57 BelAir convertible with the phrase “Remember the wind blowing through your hair? Remember hair?”
Of all the selections, an informal survey indicates the most popular would be a rear view of a ’63 Corvette Sting Ray with the statement “They don’t write songs about Volvos.”
See Original Chevrolet Auto Advertising for sale on eBay.
