When it comes to motorsports, names like Michèle Mouton, Lyn St. James, Sabine Schmitz, Janet Guthrie, and Ashley Force Hood prove that talent behind the wheel has nothing to do with gender. Nevertheless, the stereotype of the “female driver” is still relatively commonplace, despite how obviously ridiculous it is. Now, we’re watching a relic from a time when such stereotypes were more broadly accepted with the following vintage Chevy Camaro advertisement.
The advert is more than half a century old at this point, but was recently reposted to social media. The ad highlights the optional color-matched, reinforced bumpers that were offered for the 1969 Chevy Camaro, an option which, at the time, was officially titled as “Bumper, Special Front” and was priced at $42.15.
In the video, we see what’s assumed to be a wife and husband outside a quaint suburban home, with the wife rushing out to a Chevy in the driveway.
“Don’t worry, she’ll take care of the new Camaro,” the narrator says.
As the husband sits down to read a newspaper, we see the wife driving the Chevy to the shops, and almost instantly, she bumps into a cement light pole, causing the husband to look up from his paper in concern. The wife then hits the bumper with a shopping cart, once again eliciting a sense of unease from the husband.
What follows is a series of small bumps against the car’s front end, each of which is met with increasingly dramatic grimaces from the husband. Indeed, it’s unclear if the guy is going to survive the horror of his wife driving the new Chevy.
“Relax, you ordered Camaro’s new resilient bumper,” the narrator states. “It’s color-matched to the car so you may forget that it’s there. But it won’t forget how to bounce back, no matter how often you bump into something unexpectedly.”
Check out the ad for yourself right here:
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View Comments
Still funny
Gender aside, I hear it's common in Paris for cars to bump into other vehicles when parking in tight urban areas. I would love reinforced bumpers on cars today to protect from shopping carts and bad parking jobs.
First Camaro ad I've seen in years. Times change , but that doesn't mean they're better.
Hahaha next best thing to a female driving 🚗 an old RAMbler!!
Where’s your head Dim, back in 1965 ? Careful … it’s 2024 now
… not funny !
Those special bumper covers were manufactured at GM supplier plant I worked within thirty years. It and Delco Remy plants across town are long gone, as are 25,000 residents and businesses their GM wages supported.
Was that Anderson, IN? My wifes uncle worked there.
Yes, it was Anderson’s Guide Lamp plant nine, feeling they were made from urethane. Worked on several lines, manufacturing those for Saturn and manufacturing plastic honeycomb shock absorbers behind them.
I thought that Firebirds got the plastic bumpers earlier...... Must have needed to fulfil the contract so they started offering them as an option on the Camaro.... Good Idea.
Nice that women at the time generally could laugh at a commercial like this and not take things like Onion Skinned people today.
people today have gotten soft and their feelings can't take anything but approval. This is the result of time outs when kids are bad, instead of a good spanking. How did this work out for society? Answer: It made society worse and weak.
Haha ! If you spank kids and the teacher forces it out of them to spill the beans, then they'll call Child Protective Services on you and take your kids away.
Of course then that is where all the REAL ABUSE really starts.
So what? Men are humiliated/put down/shown as incompetent in today's TV ads . . .
Wife witnessed woman at mall fling door into neighboring car. Comment "Oh well".
Not all men are humiliated/put down/shown as incompetent……transgender men are glorified and praised in today’s ads.