I love this ad! It was included in a book of old Mustang ads I had as a kid, and I rediscovered the book in one of my too-many boxes of books in the basement last winter. My wife subsequently found an old Reader’s Digest with the ad in it and bought it.
As an English nerd, I like Shaw’s work, so the copy always makes me chuckle. 🙂
Indeed, this ad breaks one of the cardinal rules in auto sales: you can sell a young man’s car to a old man, but you can’t sell an old man’s car to a young man. It’s the reason you (almost) never see car ads featuring seniors.
Mercury became known as an old person’s car, and it’s a big reason that storied marque is now history. If not for the Chinese market, Buick might be gone by now, too.
Cadillac was having the same issue. I recently saw a television commercial for the new Lyriq and it was aimed squarely at the young ‘hip’ rapper crowd with lots of young people dancing around. At least I think that was the target demographic.
Ford broke several cardinal rules with Mustang ads. Several ads from this period featured “losers” who were suddenly transformed into popular, successful or happy people after buying a Mustang. The example below is one example, and there were others too.
Like JPC says above, if there’s any car that could get away with this, it’s the Mustang. I’m pretty sure that J. Walter Thompson was the ad agency for these ads.
Eric, I have to say that I’m typically a fan of most advertising from that time period (mid-60s)…but that Mustang ad is just weird!
“Mustangers”!? And what’s up with the blurry foreground picture of “Bernard”? Is that someone we’re supposed know/understand who or what he is?
Eric703
Posted October 12, 2022 at 1:06 PM
I agree – a bit odd there, and I don’t know just what demographic they were after. Maybe the very small slice of the population who are afflicted with chronic self-effacing humor. Regardless, it didn’t seem to negatively affect Mustang sales.
Here’s another ad from the same “Mustangers” series:
I strongly suspect that the Mustang ‘loser’ ad was direclty inspired by the classic Doyle Dane Bernbach ‘Lemon’ ad for the 1960 Volkswagon, sort of the type of thing that goes against everything an ad is supposed to convey.
But the shock value worked for the VW. As to the Mustang, I’m not so sure how helpful it was. At best, it probably didn’t hurt, but I’m going to guess that was primarily due to the overwhelming popularity of the new ponycar.
Seems more like something Ford was trying just to see if it would work, sort of the ‘anti-advertisement’ (like the VW ad). If an auto company was going to try something that daring, what better car to do it with than one of the most popular in US history?
In fact, reminds me of another car ad that was in the same vein: the (in)famous Chrysler ad with a colorful cartoon rendering of the 1968 Street-Hemi that began with the simple caption, “Beat It”.
this ad breaks one of the cardinal rules in auto sales: you can sell a young man’s car to a old man, but you can’t sell an old man’s car to a young man.
I don’t follow you; this ad is trying to sell a young man’s car to an old man, which is in accord with the rule, so where’s the breakage?
I believe today, ad agencies would aim to make them appear more attractive and polished, as members of that demographic. Going with models that appear older, but with actor-like looks.
Using actor Bruce Boxleitner as an example, someone who appears senior, but with Hollywood good looks. Whether they were aware of it or not, Ford was accurate in portraying seniors here. Unpolished, and very believable.
Face it, more older people and seniors have more money than young people! But I guess auto makers want those without a lot of money to finance their purchases so the company can make even more money whereas many older people pay cash for cars.
They want consumers to start buying their brand of cars when they are young and hopefully continue to sell them a lifetime’s worth of cars rather than just the “one last car”. Hence one of the reasons that luxury car makers expanded their offerings downward over the last couple of decades (but are now reversing that thinking as it’s made their products as a whole less exclusive and thus less “desirable”, which has apparently weighed on profits). But makes it all the more baffling when volume manufacturers (GM, Ford, VWNA, etc) just completely exit segments and price points rather than figuring out how to compete with those that are still in them (Hyundai/Kia, Honda, Toyota, etc) that are able to make money there and often generate a life-long fan/customer.
I’d want “The Most Interesting Man In The World” from the Dos Equis beer commercials selling my cars. “He once taught a German Shepard to bark in French.” Totally cool!
Ford always seemed to have the best, most effective advertising of the big three. They were humorous too. The ones featuring LTD comparisons with the Rolls, the Lincoln v. other “lookalike” luxury cars were great. Other than Delorean era Pontiac ads, GM’s were meh and Chryslers abysmal, with Jack Jones, Ricardo Maltaban, Joe Garagiola and other washed up hacks pitching their wares.
That photo was taken at a car show this summer, right? I usually see people like that driving first generation Mustangs today. Funny that they used to be considered young people’s cars! LOL.
I totally agree. Back in the day I knew people from every income level and age group who bought them. True also of the Beetle. And some traded in their Beetles for Mustangs. From CC I’ve learned via Paul that all VWs exported for sale in the US were deluxe models and hence each had nicer upholstery and trim. Early Mustangs also included so much “luxury” as standard equipment for the time. Even a base 170 six had full wheel covers, carpeting, bucket seats, etc. If you paid extra for whitewalls, your car looked just as nice as one that cost $1k more with options. As with the Beetle, a great marketing concept.
… You may wish to add the BMC/BL Mini to the list, everybody drove them. And unlike VW with the Beetle, BMW seems to have managed the same feat with the new Mini, again, a totally classless/ageless car.
Regarding Bernard the Loser, would it not have been better if they reported that he now scores with the ladies? I drove an IH Travelall at that time and, guess what, I still scored with the ladies. Funny ad.
Lee Iacocca stated in his autobiography this truth: “It’s much easier to sell a young man’s car to an old man, than it is to sell an old man’s car to a young man!” Truer words were never spoken. That goes for the ladies too! Everyone wants to recapture the golden days of youth. If you can’t get younger, you should at least feel younger. What better way to do it than to buy a fun, sporty car and hit the road!
About 20 years ago someone asked me how, starting with almost no money, I was able to afford to travel all over the world, start several successful businesses, and have around 150 antique cars, including marques like Packard & Rolls-Royce.
My reply was simple: I’m not married and I don’t have any kids! *
Some of these ad’s which featured mature buyers did reach their target demographic as proven by a purchase by my great aunt and great uncle Eloise and Amos. After years of hard work and now in their “Middle Ages”(50’s) they wanted to splurge on a new car. So, one afternoon in 1967 they headed over to Wheeling WV and drove home a midnight blue white stripped Camaro SS. When my cousins and I would visit in the Summer Auntie Lou would pile all four of us in the Camaro and drive all over the back roads of the Ohio Valley. I still have visions of, my grandmother standing at the end of the driveway “Lou, try not to drive too fast”. Needless to say, when Auntie was ready to purchase a 76 Camaro LT in Firethorn Red with Rallye Wheels, Spoiler, houndstooth plaid beige interior there were quite a few relatives wanting to buy the 67 SS.
My parents in 1966. I learned to drive in that car. at age 15. My Mom loved it. But not as much as her GP (behind the Mustang) But to be honest, it was my Brother in laws car, he bought a new 66 GTO as well. The Mustang became my Sister’s car.
What a great picture – thanks for posting. Who can blame your Mom for preferring her Pontiac. That Grand Prix also is a classic styling trendsetter for the 1960’s, with power and sporty elegance to match.
My Honda Fit and Paul’s Scion xB are examples of young man’s cars sold to old men. The marketing for both were youth oriented. Scion brand is dead and Fit gone from the US market.
Yes, gone, but not because they were youth oriented. They are gone because hatchbacks are a tough sell here in the Good Old USA, the land of the SUV! Even before the SUV craze started, so-called “notchback” cars, a.k.a. cars with trunks would outsell hatchbacks in the US. The popularity of hatchbacks peaked in the 1970’s, but began to decline in the 1980’s, along with station wagons, as first minivans, then later SUV’s and “crossovers” began to steal market share from hatchbacks. It would be an interesting exercise to compare the sales of the VW Jetta (sedan) in the US with the VW Golf (hatchback), to see how the sales mix has changed over the past forty (40) years. My Mom bought a 2010 Honda Fit, and she was over eighty (80) at the time.
I would have to agree!
Good luck trying to pull, tug, stretch, and snap that tonneau cover with old, arthritic hands.
Actually, it is pretty difficult to do even with young hands.
I love this ad! It was included in a book of old Mustang ads I had as a kid, and I rediscovered the book in one of my too-many boxes of books in the basement last winter. My wife subsequently found an old Reader’s Digest with the ad in it and bought it.
As an English nerd, I like Shaw’s work, so the copy always makes me chuckle. 🙂
If there was one car that could have gotten away with featuring some old folks in the ad, it was the Mustang.
Indeed, this ad breaks one of the cardinal rules in auto sales: you can sell a young man’s car to a old man, but you can’t sell an old man’s car to a young man. It’s the reason you (almost) never see car ads featuring seniors.
Mercury became known as an old person’s car, and it’s a big reason that storied marque is now history. If not for the Chinese market, Buick might be gone by now, too.
Cadillac was having the same issue. I recently saw a television commercial for the new Lyriq and it was aimed squarely at the young ‘hip’ rapper crowd with lots of young people dancing around. At least I think that was the target demographic.
This ad would have been published in publications popular with seniors. Magazines for young people, would get the more mainstream marketing.
Ford broke several cardinal rules with Mustang ads. Several ads from this period featured “losers” who were suddenly transformed into popular, successful or happy people after buying a Mustang. The example below is one example, and there were others too.
Like JPC says above, if there’s any car that could get away with this, it’s the Mustang. I’m pretty sure that J. Walter Thompson was the ad agency for these ads.
Eric, I have to say that I’m typically a fan of most advertising from that time period (mid-60s)…but that Mustang ad is just weird!
“Mustangers”!? And what’s up with the blurry foreground picture of “Bernard”? Is that someone we’re supposed know/understand who or what he is?
I agree – a bit odd there, and I don’t know just what demographic they were after. Maybe the very small slice of the population who are afflicted with chronic self-effacing humor. Regardless, it didn’t seem to negatively affect Mustang sales.
Here’s another ad from the same “Mustangers” series:
I strongly suspect that the Mustang ‘loser’ ad was direclty inspired by the classic Doyle Dane Bernbach ‘Lemon’ ad for the 1960 Volkswagon, sort of the type of thing that goes against everything an ad is supposed to convey.
But the shock value worked for the VW. As to the Mustang, I’m not so sure how helpful it was. At best, it probably didn’t hurt, but I’m going to guess that was primarily due to the overwhelming popularity of the new ponycar.
Seems more like something Ford was trying just to see if it would work, sort of the ‘anti-advertisement’ (like the VW ad). If an auto company was going to try something that daring, what better car to do it with than one of the most popular in US history?
In fact, reminds me of another car ad that was in the same vein: the (in)famous Chrysler ad with a colorful cartoon rendering of the 1968 Street-Hemi that began with the simple caption, “Beat It”.
I don’t follow you; this ad is trying to sell a young man’s car to an old man, which is in accord with the rule, so where’s the breakage?
I believe today, ad agencies would aim to make them appear more attractive and polished, as members of that demographic. Going with models that appear older, but with actor-like looks.
Using actor Bruce Boxleitner as an example, someone who appears senior, but with Hollywood good looks. Whether they were aware of it or not, Ford was accurate in portraying seniors here. Unpolished, and very believable.
Face it, more older people and seniors have more money than young people! But I guess auto makers want those without a lot of money to finance their purchases so the company can make even more money whereas many older people pay cash for cars.
They want consumers to start buying their brand of cars when they are young and hopefully continue to sell them a lifetime’s worth of cars rather than just the “one last car”. Hence one of the reasons that luxury car makers expanded their offerings downward over the last couple of decades (but are now reversing that thinking as it’s made their products as a whole less exclusive and thus less “desirable”, which has apparently weighed on profits). But makes it all the more baffling when volume manufacturers (GM, Ford, VWNA, etc) just completely exit segments and price points rather than figuring out how to compete with those that are still in them (Hyundai/Kia, Honda, Toyota, etc) that are able to make money there and often generate a life-long fan/customer.
I’d want “The Most Interesting Man In The World” from the Dos Equis beer commercials selling my cars. “He once taught a German Shepard to bark in French.” Totally cool!
Ford always seemed to have the best, most effective advertising of the big three. They were humorous too. The ones featuring LTD comparisons with the Rolls, the Lincoln v. other “lookalike” luxury cars were great. Other than Delorean era Pontiac ads, GM’s were meh and Chryslers abysmal, with Jack Jones, Ricardo Maltaban, Joe Garagiola and other washed up hacks pitching their wares.
That photo was taken at a car show this summer, right? I usually see people like that driving first generation Mustangs today. Funny that they used to be considered young people’s cars! LOL.
I think the 65-66 Mustang had the broadest demographic appeal of any car ever offered.
It looked appropriate anywhere, in real life, and even in movies. Rich, elegant, middle-class, lower middle class, white black, city, country.
The next closest is a 1960-something VW Beetle.
I totally agree. Back in the day I knew people from every income level and age group who bought them. True also of the Beetle. And some traded in their Beetles for Mustangs. From CC I’ve learned via Paul that all VWs exported for sale in the US were deluxe models and hence each had nicer upholstery and trim. Early Mustangs also included so much “luxury” as standard equipment for the time. Even a base 170 six had full wheel covers, carpeting, bucket seats, etc. If you paid extra for whitewalls, your car looked just as nice as one that cost $1k more with options. As with the Beetle, a great marketing concept.
… You may wish to add the BMC/BL Mini to the list, everybody drove them. And unlike VW with the Beetle, BMW seems to have managed the same feat with the new Mini, again, a totally classless/ageless car.
My grandmother was in her early 50’s when she bought her new 1965 Mustang.
Regarding Bernard the Loser, would it not have been better if they reported that he now scores with the ladies? I drove an IH Travelall at that time and, guess what, I still scored with the ladies. Funny ad.
Damn boomers! Oh wait…they were the boomers’ grandparents. 🙂
My Dad bought his Mustang at 75 years old in 2013, this 2014 beauty pictured below.
It was much cooler than my 2007 Mustang. Older people really do have more money.
Sadly, he sold out like Metallica. He treaded it in on a Honda Accord. At least when I bought my own Honda, I kept my Mustang! 😃
Lee Iacocca stated in his autobiography this truth: “It’s much easier to sell a young man’s car to an old man, than it is to sell an old man’s car to a young man!” Truer words were never spoken. That goes for the ladies too! Everyone wants to recapture the golden days of youth. If you can’t get younger, you should at least feel younger. What better way to do it than to buy a fun, sporty car and hit the road!
About 20 years ago someone asked me how, starting with almost no money, I was able to afford to travel all over the world, start several successful businesses, and have around 150 antique cars, including marques like Packard & Rolls-Royce.
My reply was simple: I’m not married and I don’t have any kids! *
*At least none that I’m aware of!
Some of these ad’s which featured mature buyers did reach their target demographic as proven by a purchase by my great aunt and great uncle Eloise and Amos. After years of hard work and now in their “Middle Ages”(50’s) they wanted to splurge on a new car. So, one afternoon in 1967 they headed over to Wheeling WV and drove home a midnight blue white stripped Camaro SS. When my cousins and I would visit in the Summer Auntie Lou would pile all four of us in the Camaro and drive all over the back roads of the Ohio Valley. I still have visions of, my grandmother standing at the end of the driveway “Lou, try not to drive too fast”. Needless to say, when Auntie was ready to purchase a 76 Camaro LT in Firethorn Red with Rallye Wheels, Spoiler, houndstooth plaid beige interior there were quite a few relatives wanting to buy the 67 SS.
My parents in 1966. I learned to drive in that car. at age 15. My Mom loved it. But not as much as her GP (behind the Mustang) But to be honest, it was my Brother in laws car, he bought a new 66 GTO as well. The Mustang became my Sister’s car.
What a great picture – thanks for posting. Who can blame your Mom for preferring her Pontiac. That Grand Prix also is a classic styling trendsetter for the 1960’s, with power and sporty elegance to match.
My Honda Fit and Paul’s Scion xB are examples of young man’s cars sold to old men. The marketing for both were youth oriented. Scion brand is dead and Fit gone from the US market.
Yes, gone, but not because they were youth oriented. They are gone because hatchbacks are a tough sell here in the Good Old USA, the land of the SUV! Even before the SUV craze started, so-called “notchback” cars, a.k.a. cars with trunks would outsell hatchbacks in the US. The popularity of hatchbacks peaked in the 1970’s, but began to decline in the 1980’s, along with station wagons, as first minivans, then later SUV’s and “crossovers” began to steal market share from hatchbacks. It would be an interesting exercise to compare the sales of the VW Jetta (sedan) in the US with the VW Golf (hatchback), to see how the sales mix has changed over the past forty (40) years. My Mom bought a 2010 Honda Fit, and she was over eighty (80) at the time.