Fifty years ago, Chevy ads were the best. I know that because I still remember them, and I am not one to remember what I ate for lunch, let alone 50-year-old ads. Although we were a Ford family in the '50s, we became a Chevy family because of Dinah Shore and these great ads.


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I'm not an advertising expert by any means but I know a little about marketing, and marketing is at its best when it features storytelling and anticipation that equals surprise. Television used to be a place where those traits were applied in advertising, especially when it came to cars.
Fifty years ago, Chevy ads were the best. I know that because I still remember them, and I am not one to remember what I ate for lunch, let alone 50-year-old ads. Although we were a Ford family in the '50s, we became a Chevy family because of Dinah Shore and these great ads.
The first is story-telling Broadway style. The seond recalls the days when Americans anticipated the new cars and Detroit kept the styling locked up like nuclear secrets. Note that Dinah and Pat Boone comment in song on the subtleties in the ad and how careful Detroit is about sharing only the briefest of glimpses.
See the USA in Your Chevrolet - Dinah Shore 1952

1959 Chevrolet Impala

I think these ads are effective. Today, with all the wonderful technology and creative applications available, we should be telling and showing even greater stories. But mostly advertising seems to have gotten away from telling stories. Why is that?