The Advertising of Yesterday Part XIII

So you want to go deer hunting?



Well, how about doing it on a motorcycle? The 1965 advertising execs for the Honda corporation thought it was a good idea to try and capture the "hunting" market. Forget about pickups, jeeps and all the other 4 wheel drive vehicles of the day, and get yerself a 90 cc motorcicle. Granted, this was the time before ATV's as we know them were even an idea but seriously, how in the world are you going to transport a 220 (270 in Iowa) pound deer on a motorcycle. Such a disappointing attempt at penetrating a market from a company with one of the top ad campaigns of all time. These ads were the follow up to the, "you meet the nicest people on a Honda" campaign and an attempt to attract the "outdoorsy" crowd.



The "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" campaign instituted by Grey Advertising was wildly successful. In the late 50's and early 60's, the bad biker image was systematically being dismantled by 8 cleverly crafted words. "Mothers who once wouldn't listen to an adolescent child's plea for a motorcycle began to compromise, saying, "I'll buy you one, if it's a Honda."





After the initial airing of the first ads, "...Honda was overwhelmed with requests to start up new dealerships and inundated with offers from other large corporations wanting to tie their own ad campaigns in with Honda. Annual sales of Honda motorcycles jumped from 40,000 units a year to a staggering 200,000 units per year, a 500% sales increase. No wonder that to this day, in colleges and universities around the world, the “Nicest People” campaign is studied as a model for a successful advertising campaign." Source

So there's a little more history for you. I am heading to the local waterpark tomorrow and if people are lucky they may catch a glimps of my glorious belly. Till next week then.

Thanks for stopping by!