Magazines and outdoor advertising were right up there too, but newspaper ads were where the dealers were recognized at the bottom of every ad with an invitation to come see them. Later, television would be where most of the money was spent. But in the Fifties, we produced five nearly full-page ads every month. One ad ran each week, and a fifth called a swing ad took the place of another in a market where exposure was needed on one product rather than another. Chevrolet made those determinations.
Newspaper ads back then needed special attention to get good reproduction. Printing presses tended to wobble and have too little or too much ink for good reproduction. That was the reason behind the kind of illustration art developed by Jim Hastings for Chevy ads. The illustrations were done all in line and halftone elements added later. The line illustrations were like the type in newspapers and held the illustration together no matter what happened. Few illustrators were capable of this kind of work, and Hastings used several artists from San Francisco until a group from Detroit could learn the technique. Color was just beginning in newspapers, and this approach was perfect for it.
The 1955 ad above was illustrated by Charles Allen and represents a kind of picture content that would belong to Chevrolet along with the tagline "SEE THE USA." Many newspaper ads in the fifties and early sixties were like magazine ads in that they helped build a brand image for Chevy that continues today. Dinah Shore helped a bunch too, with her live TV show. Nobody could sing the Chevy theme like Dinah. I have always marveled that a car with a French name could be regarded as "America's Car" rather than Ford, considering all the contributions Henry
Charles Allen is still with us, and you can see more of his work by going to his blog (charlieallensblog.blogspot.com). You can see more Chevy ads by going to my blog, About Old Chevy Ads (oldchevyads.blogspot. com). Unfortunately, few of the newspaper ads survived as most were simply thrown away.
These two 1956 ads represent the look of Chevy ads in news-papers that began in 1955 and would continue for many years. Most of the artists Jim Hastings was using were in San Francisco at a studio named Patterson and Hall. Hastings worked there as an illustrator before moving to the RW Webster agency in LA.
He was then hired byCampbell- Ewald chairman Ted Little to put more gusto into Chevy advertis¬ing. In the beginning, he had no official title but reported directly to Big Daddy. That's what we called Chairman Little but never to his face. Hastings worked with his illustrator friends in San Francisco as a kind of outside group to come up with ads like those seen here and the '55 ad. They were shown in competition with the regular Chevy creative group headed by Halsey Davidson. The Chevy people liked them in part because they were so different from other car ads, as well as from previous Chevy ads. A whole new direc-tion for Chevrolet print had been established. The relationship with America had its beginning with ads that showed long, beautiful highways and people enjoying the bounty of our country. Pete Booth, a superb copy and creative guy, began working with Hastings to transform the agency. They had adjoining offices with only a cur-tain to separate them, something that was unheard of back then — art and copy working closely together.
Nonnast. It has all the warmth and feeling that had been missing from pre-1955 Chevy ads. And look at the plane about to land. It's a prop- driven Constellation. I wonder if Howard Hughes could be the pilot? The copy theme is pure Chevrolet; more car for your money. The 1955, 1956 and 1957 Chevrolets were a huge hit in the market and continue to be high-priced collector items today.
The ad with the car on the mountain road was illustrated by Haines Hall, another of Hastings friends. Haines was more than a fine illustrator; he was part owner of the Patterson Hall Art Studio in San Francisco. The studio still is in business although all the old illustrators have long ago retired. Today it is known as P & H Creative Group and is run by Bruce Hettema. Bruce is very interested in the history of the studio and has a fine collection of ads and art from days gone by.
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