ADS magazine

[Jon]

Whilst visiting the bright lights of Auckland not long after moving over here, me and Mrs_Jon decided to visit a trendy* sale of various bits of retro furnishings, so as to hopefully make good use of the Commodore's boot space. Sadly we didn't really have deep enough pockets/weren't quick enough to grab a lot of good stuff but it was great to see how much our house guff would be worth when it finally arrived. One thing that caught my eye was a handful of ADS magazines which looked quite interesting and weren't too pricey, so I dipped in to my wallet (after a barter, naturally) and took them home.



It turns out that what I'd got offered an in-depth look at the advertising industry around the world from the early-mid 1980s, from an American advertising perspective. All genres are covered, from print, TV and radio (each issue has a floppy record inserted!). Pretty specialist subject there and of course with appearance being everything, the mags themselves are very nicely put together. As many art-wank people tend to (I say this as a freelancer in the TV/Film industry), the creators take themselves and said adverts very seriously. Below is a rather in-depth article on the development of a seemingly revolutionary commercial in 1984 for the recently introduced Corvette:



















All very serious and important stuff, I think you'll agree. However, watch the actual advert below and see any visual credibility blown out the window courtesy of the soundtrack/narration:



Apologies for the frankly shocking scans - Trigger really has been spoiling us all. Nevertheless, more examples of stuff like this tomorrow!

[Leonard Hatred]

Computer activated manual transmission, what? That advert is very naff but it's interesting to read about the process behind it.

[Jon]

More thrill-packed updates from the edition with the Chevy Astro on the front cover.

I'd actually scanned the articles detailing the general view of automotive advertising and also the Pontiac campaign at the time of the Fiero launch but tbh they're pretty dull, so I've left them out. However, here's an example of what some very important people were waxing lyrical over:



This article goes into detail about the hugely successful* AMC/Renault Alliance:












And again, the LOL that resulted:

There is the well know "Chasm" commercial, in which American auto-buyers are seen on one side of the earth hankering for the European know-how while on the other side of the abyss an Alliance glistens with undeniable visual appeal

Took the words right out of my mouth, there:

The Encore, equally affordable, is a sportier hatchback.
Thus, to go with this image of the typical Encore buyer, there is the "Plastic Car" spot in which an Encore is seen literally bending itself around a corner, thereby making a statement about its handling capabilities...Encore buyers want to make a little more of a statement about themselves. Now we're talking nuances here, slight but perceptible differences between them and Alliance buyers. So again, we translated that literally into a visual metaphor with 'Plastic Car'

"And then we have another commercial where we tell a potential Encore buyer 'If you are what you drive, picture yourself as an Encore'. And the man turns bit by bit, into a car. And at the end the guy says 'I could see myself in a Renault Encore'. It's all about the visual metaphor, that's the strategy here"

Works well, I think you'll agree:

[Jon]

Here's the storyboards for the Chevy Astro and the advert that ensued:





However, I actually prefer this one, which I found first:



There were a couple of Us adverts which I couldn't find on youtube, including this Peugeot 505 one:



And this one for Mobil fuel, featuring some HOT Omni action:




Does anyone remember this UK ad when it originally aired in 1982?






Suave Franco-Hirst demonstrates the low-speed bale avoidance capabilities of the Capella:





Aside from the obvious mickey-taking that these TV adverts provide, I do find it interesting to note that there's much more of a message to be conveyed with the examples of print media I found. Rather like a sub editors job on a tabloid, there's creative use of a 'headline' and striking imagery to pique your interest, unlike today's 'plonk a silver one on some nice looking foreign road and put generic country-specific number plates on it' adverts. Also less emphasis of a lifestyle being construed to the potential buyer in many cases and much more information about the cars themselves.

Except in Japan, of course:



There's no translation for the Newman advert but the one to the left apparently quotes the bloke as saying "I love the jacket size"







This one isn't for a Volkswagen, rather a media-savvy garage in New York:



I reckon the 100-1 ration of Toyota/VW sales in Japan is probably a bit generous in VW's favour:



Thankfully this is a print advert, so you can't hear the Americans mis-pronouncing Renault:



Interesting to see an artist's rendition of a car in an advert this recent, even if it was done 'knowingly':



Actually, didn't Vauxhall do something similar at the time of the Mk3 Cavalier launch? I certainly remember it an outlandish '50s concept car for one of its campaigns.




Not a car ad but interesting all the same:




Remember what I said about the lack of lifestyles being a feature? Sadly, the agency with the Peugeot account in the US bucked this trend:



Here's the blurb the ad opens with. I'm just putting the keys to my 505 in an envelope to send back to Peugeot after reading this narrative excerpt:

Dad Meets the graduate in his Peugeot

That night, when everyone else had gone to bed, they stayed out on the deck and talked, just the two of them, father and daughter.
She told him how tough this last year at college had been, how dumb she had felt sometimes.
He told her about architecture and how dumb it makes him feel sometimes.
They agreed on bluegrass and spy thrillers. Agreed to disagree on Brahms and ice cream with walnuts in it.
They chuckled about her kid brother, the boy-who-was-all-legs, and his recent discovery of girls.
They did not talk like father and daughter. Without noticing it, they had become friends.
"I like you" he said.
"I like you, Dad."

Urgh. Probably best to finish with my favourite advert, from Brazil:



"THE 2.3 POWERTRAIN IS A SILENT IS AS A FISH, AND IT PULLS LIKE A GREAT"

[Barrett]

This is great. A good reminder of how humourless and po-faced a lot of things were back in the '80s (the magazine, not the ads themselves). the TV spots have definitely dated badly but a lot of the print stuff still holds up I reckon.

[garethj]

Actually, didn't Vauxhall do something similar at the time of the Mk3 Cavalier launch? I certainly remember it an outlandish '50s concept car for one of its campaigns.

This one:


It was built by 3T prototypes and based on a Triumph Herald chassis, I've got a feature in Fast Lane magazine which talks about it, apparently this car did a tour of all the Vauxhall dealerships of the time which must have been a blessed relief from the rest of the cars in the showroom