These old commercials for the pony car are campy and great.
Old car commercials are about as interesting as classic cars. They literally tell a story about what automakers and even society in general at the time thought was important. There’s a lot going on in these Ford Mustang ads from 1967, but the most entertaining thing is what’s called “The Mustang Pledge.” Basically, it’s a string of declarations you make when getting the muscle car, because apparently it will change your life.
The most entertaining and ridiculous commercial is the vampire, werewolf, or whatever he is. The tone isn’t too far off from The Munsters and The Adams Family, which were contemporaries and probably served as inspiration. Other people being called away from their mundane, everyday life to arrive at a Ford dealership, then enjoying some fun behind the wheel of a car is also ridiculous entertainment.
Certain features are highlighted big time by Ford. Among them are the bucket seats, air conditioning being available, and that tilt-away steering wheel with tilt adjustment. The SelectShift transmission with its “manual” mode was another feature Ford loved to focus on in these commercials since back then it seemed like futuristic tech for a car to have. In that respect, car ads today aren’t too much different than these from 1967.
You’ll also note that in some of the commercials people talk about taking the high road and not laughing at “Mustang imitations.” That’s an obvious jab at the Chevrolet Camaro, which launched the same year.
Overall, the message Ford keeps trying to get across in these commercials is that the Mustang stands for freedom and affordable performance. Obviously not everyone agreed, such as Carrol Shelby (people now realize that thanks to Ford v Ferrari) but enough car shoppers were swayed by these ads to keep the Mustang as a dominant force in the marketplace.
The big question is how will everyone in 50 years look at car commercials from 2019?
