See the USA in a Chevrolet -- Using patriotism to sell cars.

[Jesda]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9_HK2dlCPk[/youtube]

Campbell-Ewald, the ad agency behind “Like A Rock”, is credited with coming up with “See The USA In Your Chevrolet,” which Advertising Age ranks among the most successful campaigns of the last century.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGZvQoPxhNs[/youtube]

The 1952 campaign with Dinah Shore was nothing short of brilliant -- catchy, bright, and perfectly in tune with America’s endless supply of optimism.

Chevrolet’s advertising has always leaned on its ties to American culture, unabashedly associating itself with hot dogs, baseball, and apple pie. While patriotism served as a point of pride in the 1950s and 1960s, it later functioned as a retreat from issues of lacking quality, fuel economy, and sophistication.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocCC1-jeTY[/youtube]

The agency was also responsible for the “Heartbeat of America” campaign used in the 1980s and early 1990s, which resonated throughout working-class middle America. It seemed as if marketers were suggesting, “If you don’t buy from Chevrolet, you want America’s heart to stop beating.”

Heartbeat had the unfortunate burden of having to sell some of Chevrolet’s worst-built vehicles, including the Beretta, Celebrity, Corsica, and Cavalier. Patriotism ran high, but quality ran low during the years of Smith and Stempel.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smM2xhmxiOc[/youtube]

Undeniably, the campaign worked as more than a few of us in 'working-class' America bought into it. I grew up in a lower-class neighborhood in a medium-sized Illinois town. I remember my dad having a chat with one of our neighbors over why we should buy American. We had a new 1988 Nissan Sentra and they had a new Chevy Beretta, a sleek looking coupe. The Nissan Sentra (which I hated driving) continued to serve our family until it finally died in my teenage hands at 170,000 miles. Within a couple years, the neighbor’s Beretta completely lost all of the paint on the hood and roof. It didn’t stay with their family for much longer after that.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1ZgN-bFdlE[/youtube]

Japanese imports in the 1970s and early 1980s suffered from miserable corrosion, a brutal lack of refinement, and questionable build quality, but offered mechanical dependability and fuel efficiency, two primary consumer needs during periods of political and economic instability. As fuel and living costs spiked during the Carter era and national pride hit rock bottom, GM allowed an entire generation of customers to disappear, followed by entire regions, like California.

After a series of budget cuts, GM fired Campbell-Ewald in 2010.

Most of the cars I’ve owned have been American-made, and I have a fondness for GM products like Corvette, Camaro, the entire Cadillac division, and Chevy/GMC trucks, but Chevrolet’s mass market passenger cars, at least during the three decades that I’ve been alive, have rarely lived up to the promises made by slick marketing.

Today, GM wants to remind us that “Chevy Runs Deep”, reiterating Chevy’s connection to American culture. Indeed, Chevrolet runs deeper than ever thanks to federal bailouts, whether we like it or not.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5AG2KbD5ko[/youtube]


http://jesda.com/2011/02/12/glee-see-th ... chevrolet/

[Chaotic_Warlord]

By and far the awesomest Camaro ever.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LonltRbf ... re=related[/youtube]

[themadscientist]

I see rapacious lazy unions and shortsighted front office people who feel entitled to be insulated from a market that left them behind because they suck. You know, now that I think about it, that is America! Fat, lazy, and whiny with a manifest destiny attitude watching American Idol and living on Facebook while the country sinks.

[Ace2cool]

Jesda, I always enjoy reading your blogs/ blurbs/ anythings. You always tell it exactly how it is, without holding anything back.

[dasoupdude]

Jesda, I always enjoy reading your blogs/ blurbs/ anythings. You always tell it exactly how it is, without holding anything back.

Jesdas like Anthony Bourdain except a total bacon slut.

[Bubba1]

By and far the awesomest Camaro ever.

I think there are Camaro's that are more awesome than a new one:

1970 1/2 split bumper Z/28, one of the sexier cars ever made
1st gen COPO Z/28 or Yenko 427 Z/28
or even the stock 1967 Z/28.

[Ace2cool]

1970 1/2 split bumper Z/28, one of the sexier cars ever made

QFMFT! So Sexy!

[Chaotic_Warlord]

By and far the awesomest Camaro ever.

I think there are Camaro's that are more awesome than a new one:

1970 1/2 split bumper Z/28, one of the sexier cars ever made
1st gen COPO Z/28 or Yenko 427 Z/28
or even the stock 1967 Z/28.

I wasn't referring to the model of the camaro, I was referring to the airbrushed artwork that is covering it. The 69 SS is by and far my favorite Camaro year, the new ones are just wannabe copies of the original. Kinda like the new Challenger, but with the new Challengers they actually look and sound good. The new Camaro's are only selling because the IROC fanbois needed something more modern and more so because of the Transformers movies.

[Razi]

The new Challengers are freakin huge!

[themadscientist]

I love the way that with all the modern technology these retro musclecars still can't decisively step to their elders.
The 68' Camaro is chilling in the corner playing cards with the 69' Mustang and 71' Challenger and the new kids come into the bar being loud and acting tough using a phoney ID to buy beer and the old men just roll their eyes and hope they don't have to interrupt their game to throw these snot nosed punks out.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

I love the way that with all the modern technology these retro musclecars still can't decisively step to their elders.
The 68' Camaro is chilling in the corner playing cards with the 69' Mustang and 71' Challenger and the new kids come into the bar being loud and acting tough using a phoney ID to buy beer and the old men just roll their eyes and hope they don't have to interrupt their game to throw these snot nosed punks out.

That's because no matter how much HP the big 3 give their retro musclecars, they lack the torque to back up that power and the classic charm, appeal, and build quality that the old skool classics have. Plus these are drivers cars anymore, manufacturer's don't trust their consumers or believe they can handle the power these new cars have so they limit how hard they can be driven or what modifications can be made to them. With traction control, abs, stability control, launch control and what ever else they these new cars have it's about control, and not about a pure driving experience.

The only musclecar that has psuedo stayed true to it's roots and even improved on them is the Corvette, the Mustang comes in a not so close second. The Camaro and the Challenger try but fail, and the Charger, Impala, Monte Carlo/Regal, and Malibu are just name plates anymore.

[themadscientist]

The Corvette was always a car built for pricks who thought their s*** didn't stink. It's nice to see Chevrolet has not lost that focus.

[turbonxsx]

YUCK

[Urabus GodofTraction]

I love the way that with all the modern technology these retro musclecars still can't decisively step to their elders.
The 68' Camaro is chilling in the corner playing cards with the 69' Mustang and 71' Challenger and the new kids come into the bar being loud and acting tough using a phoney ID to buy beer and the old men just roll their eyes and hope they don't have to interrupt their game to throw these snot nosed punks out.

Mustang is a pony car. But semantics. Also a 69? Chubby.

Stock for stock, the modern reincarnations will wipe the floor with their progenitors. Skinny bias-ply tires, torsion bar front ends, worm gear steering, and drum brakes are just starters. The new Mustang would absolutely rape the older ones.

Drove a quite stock 68 Mustang once... couldn't stop, couldn't turn, and wasn't that fast either. Now, a "restomodded" one, I can get behind.

That's because no matter how much HP the big 3 give their retro musclecars, they lack the torque to back up that power and the classic charm, appeal, and build quality that the old skool classics have. Plus these are drivers cars anymore, manufacturer's don't trust their consumers or believe they can handle the power these new cars have so they limit how hard they can be driven or what modifications can be made to them. With traction control, abs, stability control, launch control and what ever else they these new cars have it's about control, and not about a pure driving experience.

The only musclecar that has psuedo stayed true to it's roots and even improved on them is the Corvette, the Mustang comes in a not so close second. The Camaro and the Challenger try but fail, and the Charger, Impala, Monte Carlo/Regal, and Malibu are just name plates anymore.

Yeaaaaaaah... No. Build quality? No. The "musclecars" of old were not well screwed together... you're romanticizing an ideal. Like a chick and camping.

[Jesda]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEDiMipIskc[/youtube]

[AZhitman]

Jesda, you forgot the most unabashedly patriotic (and my personal favorite) Chevy commercial EVER:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5OwJQsAhDU[/youtube]

[nissangirl74]

[AZhitman]

I love the way that with all the modern technology these retro musclecars still can't decisively step to their elders.
The 68' Camaro is chilling in the corner playing cards with the 69' Mustang and 71' Challenger and the new kids come into the bar being loud and acting tough using a phoney ID to buy beer and the old men just roll their eyes and hope they don't have to interrupt their game to throw these snot nosed punks out.

Love ya Mike, but no.

You had to go WAY deep into the option packages back then (and they were plenty) to get something more wood-inspiring than the standard ponycar with a straight six or a small-block... Even if you did, you'd get:

71 Challenger R/T: 14.3 @ 99mph; 6 seconds 0-60
69 Mustang 351: 15.59 @ 89mph; 8 seconds 0-60
68 Camaro SS 396: 14.5 @ 99mph; 6 seconds 0-60

Keep in mind, those are some of the higher-end models (especially the Camaro).

Here's the #'s for the 2011 V6 (yes, the V6) variants of those cars:
Challenger 14.8 sec @ 94.8 mph
1Mustang 14.5 sec @ 97.3 mph
Camaro 14.5 sec @ 98.2 mph

Those are the BASE models. Break out the V8 versions of each of them and it's a bloodbath.

Pray to God that no one invites the old guys to a skidpad or a 60-0 braking distance test.

[AZhitman]

The Corvette was always a car built for pricks who thought their s*** didn't stink.

My s*** smells quite rotten, I can assure you.

After owning one for 8 months, I'm inclined to think it was actually built for people who want to outrun, outhandle, and outbrake just about everything else on the road, without spending "exoticar" money.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

After owning one for 8 months, I'm inclined to think it was actually built for people who want to outrun, outhandle, and outbrake just about everything else on the road, without spending "exoticar" money.

No, that's one of these.



About the Chevys...I think the whole "Chevy runs deep" thing is quite comical. It just so happens the Camaro is built in Canada!

....and the Challenger is built in Mexico! They actually closed their Michigan plant and transported all the dyes/stamps/and such to a Mexican factory!

Ford is the only one at least trying to be somewhat American nowadays imo. As far as the big three go...

[AZhitman]

The whole "domestic / import" thing is ignorant anyway.

Almost all "imports" are built in the US, they employ US workers, and the money benefits the US economy.

A lot of "domestics" are built in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere, and parts are sourced from all over.

[Jesda]

I like the Rockets ad a lot more than Chrysler's superbowl ad. Same patriotic theme, but one's backed by an example of great American engineering. The other is a sad story about a failing city run by corrupt dirtbags, featuring a reskinned version of a mediocre pile of car, with a rapper who hasn't had a hit since Bush's first term.

I love Detroit, but the city government is a trainwreck.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZQLxVO-qjM[/youtube]

[themadscientist]

After owning one for 8 months, I'm inclined to think it was actually built for people who want to outrun, outhandle, and outbrake just about everything else on the road, without spending "exoticar" money.

Oh, and don't think that isn't a delicious thing. Don't get me started on the exotic car goofs. The Vette is the Mark Cuban of the car world. You hate it because it intrudes into your exclusive club, but you have to respect it.

It does still attract a preponderance of jerk offs. There are always exceptions, but they seem to be few and far between.

I think I found a TMS-version vette, sans the fiery ending
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KynMbNsD ... re=related[/youtube]

[Jesda]

I always thought the 350Z was the new d!ck car. The Vette is mostly driven by married guys aged 45+

[themadscientist]

No, I think the GT-R would be the new jack off car.

[Jesda]

Too many jerkoffs, too few GTRs. 350Z satisfies the v-necked baller on a budget.

[Bubba1]

I always thought the 350Z was the new d*** car. The Vette is mostly driven by married guys aged 45+

I think a newer pricier M3 more fits as a d*** car than a 350z. Don;t forget the Z demographic of old farts that want cheap turnkey track cars who are too fat and creaky to fit in a Miata or Elise and too cheap to buy a Porsche.

I think you can drop the "married" part for Vette owners. I think there are probably as many single/divorced guys over 45 that drive Corvettes than married, not just track/real car guys. But as 2nd childhood vehicles.

[Jesda]

I've never seen an older guy in a 350Z. Its colleges chicks and guys with flat-billed baseball caps.

They can't afford the upkeep on an E46 M3 and the E36 M3 isn't flashy enough for them.

They all have brain damage.

[Jesda]

For Christmas you're getting a baseball cap with a flat rim.

[Bubba1]

I've never seen an older guy in a 350Z. Its colleges chicks and guys with flat-billed baseball caps.

They can't afford the upkeep on an E46 M3 and the E36 M3 isn't flashy enough for them.

They all have brain damage.

LOL, besides me. I think the issue is where we hang out. If you visit a few paddocks, the 350Z's and Corvettes are owned by older guys, the M3's seem to trend with the 30 somethings crowd.