Jalopnik
Watching old car ads, we tend to be most struck by how styling has changed (for the worse) and mechanical goodies have changed (for the better). But, every so often, we run across an ad that makes it clear how much the world around the cars has changed. The 1960s really aren't that far back in the rear view mirror, but it's lucky for the admen who made the following pair of ads that present-day women don't have time machines (ideally, installed inside a blown Hemi-powered Dodge La Femme... or they'd be coming back to kick their asses!
So here we have what appears to be your standard all-Riviera stalker-victim scenario, complete with Isadora Duncan-style scarf on the woman in the white Buick, and the dude in the red Riv studying a map marked with the gravesites of his previous victims. But wait- it turns out that they're meeting up at the country club, where we learn that the '64 Riviera is a car that "a woman can admire and enjoy to the fullest, but only a man can understand."
Let's say you're Liz, a successful scientist who packs a PhD and works at what looks to be a secret nerve-gas laboratory. But for Liz, something is missing (despite her success in brewing up a more potent form of commie-killin' VX)... ah, of course: she's sacrificed her womanhood by stuffing her brain with useless scientific knowledge, when she should have been working on getting her MRS degree! The solution: buy a '68 Mustang fastback... and watch the workplace sexual harassment begin!
So here we have what appears to be your standard all-Riviera stalker-victim scenario, complete with Isadora Duncan-style scarf on the woman in the white Buick, and the dude in the red Riv studying a map marked with the gravesites of his previous victims. But wait- it turns out that they're meeting up at the country club, where we learn that the '64 Riviera is a car that "a woman can admire and enjoy to the fullest, but only a man can understand."
Let's say you're Liz, a successful scientist who packs a PhD and works at what looks to be a secret nerve-gas laboratory. But for Liz, something is missing (despite her success in brewing up a more potent form of commie-killin' VX)... ah, of course: she's sacrificed her womanhood by stuffing her brain with useless scientific knowledge, when she should have been working on getting her MRS degree! The solution: buy a '68 Mustang fastback... and watch the workplace sexual harassment begin!
Comments
That tears it! I'm getting some labcoats for my meth lab!
FORD:
Step 1: Change back to 1968 slogan "Ford Has a Better Idea"
Step 2: Get a better idea.
Ah, the good old days!
Now where did they put that Dr. Evil spirally time machine?
Where are the Jezebelles?
Sexism in the 60's was AWESOME!!
Mustang would have won if she would have been pure T&A instead of pure TnT
Anita Hill ruined it for all of us and it wasn't even enough to block that pos Thomas.
The Riviera, alas,is the worst--such a cool car, such a bad ad. But neither is quite as bad as the Lark wagon yesterday, where the only shot of the woman is looking in the mirror and she's not even doing something useful, like seeing if she has spinach in her teeth, she's just painting her face, while the man does all the work. My 97 Grand Marquis only has the lighted mirror on the passenger side; my 98 Camry has one on each side.
The Buick is more of your classic cat and mouse, but the blatant disrespect of the Mustang ad seals the deal for me. I mean sure a PhD is nice and all if you want the respect of your co-workers (pssh, who needs that!) But if you want the old pervs playing ball to really notice you...buy a fastback Mustang and see how quick the boys get in line!
The Riv' ad sounds much better with Slayer as bacground music than that wildly innapropriate "dooby dooby doo" backing...
I never saw the Riv' as a "dooby dooby doo" kinda car...
More a "bow, wacca, bow wacca" sort of ride.
Why has the theme song to The Mary Tyler Moore show suddenly popped into my head...? Dr. Liz is looking downright annoyed by the end of the Mustang ad.
Maybe the Mustang purchase was her subconscious expression of her Lesbian orientation...
I think the Mustang ad could work equally well with gender roles reversed and be just as offensive to either sex.
Imagine how ticked off most women would get at an ad that depicts Mr. Phd getting long-missing respect and attention he once acquires a Mustang.
I can just see throngs of ladies complaining, "Yeah, like a lousy car is all we think about when it comes to relationships."
In my opinion, the old Mustang ad is more on the misandric side, as it makes those lab guys seem pretty shallow.
Either way , the condescending message to either sex is: "You're nothing without this product", which is pretty much the core point of ads nowadays anyway.
So... Nothing embodies the glamour and excitement of a '68 Mustang better than a team of balding fiftysomethings whacking off like an angry orchestra under their lab coats?
Oh please, please, please, Mr Navarro - help us understand how this kind of thing used to happen.
@RalphieDC: Stop it with the common sense! COTD material there.
Buick Riviera, no question. Cars are gigantic boxes of steel and magic that no woman could ever hope to comprehend.
Despite showing Liz considering being a catcher, the Riv guy is master of the WASP nest...
Mustang: "...you might just make it after all..."
Apparently it was common to smoke a pipe while playing softball, back in those days.
The Buick ad is much more condescending.
The Riviera ad says that women can't match men's level of comprehension. The Mustang ad just says that men won't take brainiac Jan seriously until they she "shows them her pony." Not really a slam against WOMEN, now is that?
"How much fizz there was in Liz?"
This has been posted for almost five hours and no remarks about jizz???
-Or Option 3: Buck's Truck From "Kill Bill Vol. 1"
[youtube.com]
I sincerely hope all you good little misogynists know the name.
@TinaChow: We are above that.
Yes the ads are hopeless but the cars make up for it. At least you can look at the ads and think either car is worth buying. A 65 GS, or a 68 G.T. etc..
All I know is that I'd fall head over heels for a cute blonde with a PhD and a '68 Mustang fastback. She's even got (what we can assume is) a pretty high paying job.
A smart, hot chick with good taste and money. Did she just wink at me? I think she just winked at me!
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