These days, there isn’t a lot companies can get away with in the advertising and marketing field. Decades ago, the competition was a bit more… cutthroat, we’ll see.
In 1952, Chevrolet took it to the extreme with a 20-minute-long presentation on the then-new 1952 Ford sedan. Chevy didn’t just highlight why its car was better, it spent the entire time picking apart why the Ford didn’t look good, didn’t drive well and explained why its “modern” technology was archaic in comparison to the bowtie brand.
Zingers included, “More than 70% of the people who buy Fords this year will have to put up with this outdated, inefficient, but overpriced engine,” and shots at the 1952 Ford’s borrowed design.
And throughout, Chevy is keen to remind viewers that Chevrolet was the best in product and price leadership. It’s presentations like this that give rise to rivalry jokes that persist decades later. Let the trash talking begin by pressing play right up above.
Comments
This was training material for Chevrolet salesmen, never seen by the consumer, until YouTube that is!
There’s old Chevrolet Chevelle commercials that ripped apart both the Ford Fairlane and Pontiac GTO we were watching recently. And there were other’s too… It wasn’t just Ford that Chevrolet targeted. When they were their own company (albeit within gm), there’s no doubt who was #1.
Even being part of gm they put a target on the other companies that gm owned. I recall reading Chevrolet Motor Co/Division executives even ordered that their escalators run faster than every other company/motor division that gm owned. Of course, this is back before the 80’s and the ‘One GM’ company was ushered in.
My Grandmother had a 52. The old starter pedal on floor. 3 on the tree. Pretty cool for a grandma. Lotta folks today wouldn’t even know how to drive it today.
The German subsidiaries copied the style of their US parents:
Opel Olympia with this shark mouth grille, and Ford with a globe in the middle of the grille.
They couldn’t do that now because very few of their product beat the competition at very few things if any.
As sad as it is to say; its true.
Even though I would still buy an Escalade over a Navigator any day of the week, its not hard to see how much better the new Navigator is compared to the Escalade.
Even when GM does outdo it competitors with products like the CTS-V, and the Silverado HD, they go unnoticed solely because they do not have “the most” of something (HP, Towing). I think its pretty damn impressive that a RWD CTS-V can out perform an AMG E63 4Matic around the track, especially since the CTS is a much older car.