Digitized from VHS, this is classic truck marketing preserved for the ages.
For the 1994 model year, Dodge launched the second generation of its Ram pickup. It was a big deal because the truck was larger than competitors. Car and Driver even made a locker room joke about it (I’m not joking, take a look for yourself). There was a lot of buzz about this new vehicle, and Chrysler knew it had something special on its hands. The promotional video below helps spell it all out, making it worthy of a watch. Plus someone needs to make the background music available through iTunes. That would be epic.
Not everyone remembers when modern features hadn’t moved into the truck market. As this video states, things like four-wheel antilock brakes and airbags were considered unnecessary for pickups, but the 1994 Dodge Ram helped to change that.
The Ram was also bigger and beefier-looking than what you could get from Ford and GM at the time. It was a big deal.
And maybe you’ve forgotten that Dodge started pushing its Magnum engines in the 1994 Ram, including the V10. This was to help get past the perception that only diesels could provide enough torque. Considering these characteristics about pickup trucks seem incredibly dated today proves that this gamble helped shift the market.
Critics noticed the 1994 Dodge Ram was a mover and shaker. For example, Motor Trend named it the 1994 Truck of the Year. Even Car and Driver praised it, after making a joke about truck size being tied to something else, calling the Ram “a barrel-chested gorilla of a truck.” Not too shabby.
When you really think about it, for about the past few decades truck commercials haven’t really changed. Having watched quite a few vehicle commercials during my time as a sports fan, plus actively looking them up online, I can attest to that. This promotional video for the 1994 Dodge Ram isn’t any different. It opens with a rugged-looking man wearing a cowboy hat and boots, plus plenty of leathery skin. And the guy is in a desolate desert landscape for reasons unexplained. He’s the target market for trucks. It’s an interesting aside to this fascinating video, but something worthy of mention.
