Friday, January 1, 2010

Campbell-Ewald Advertising: They don't write songs about Volvos






A few classics from Campbell-Ewald Advertising, courtesy of reader and commenter extraordinaire JWilly.



7 comments:

  1. Wow...what were these art prints made for? I dunno but they're simply long lost American design principles. No boxiness, 5mph bumpers, or current blob-of clay designs - bold statements full of character. Even in the debatably ugliest Chevy of all time that I'd be proud to own, the '59. Remember when cars were full of stainless-steel trim, anodized aluminum, and sculpted steel. And you could pop the hood, crawl in, shut the hood, and change the cap, rotor, and wires and come out smiling - oh, and there was no guessng if that bolt was SAE or metric! What an era pre 1970 cars were.

    Dan Gibbs
    Outskirts of Genesee Cty,
    Former Flint resident of 18yrs
    Mundy Twp/Rankin

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  2. Dan, I feel like car design took a big hit when they shifted to the molded, soft edge, all-one-color plastic bumpers.

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  3. I would trade my truck and my car and a couple Brownings (belgium) AND cash for that 57 V8 hard top. Today!

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  4. > Wow...what were these art prints made for?

    These five are part of a series of at least 22 that I know of, done by Campbell Ewald as billboards.

    I don't know when the series began or how the others have been used, but five of them were created for the 2007 Dream Cruise route along Woodward and 8 Mile.

    http://preprodha.ecomm.gm.com:8221/us/chevrolet/en/product_services/r_trucks/r_c_hhr/08hhrss/media_advisory/media_advisory.htm

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  5. Hey UncleBuck...ake another look at that first '57 art-print...that's a Bel Air 4-door sedan. Not even a 4-door hardtop and it STILL looks hot!!!

    Every one of these models pre-dates me. I just love that '59 rear-end print. The ole '59; tough lookin' in the rear, and a gentle-homeliness in the front.

    BTW, I still own a '66 Chevelle Malibu that I've had since Oct '87, Flint built 327/220hp... well in need of help restorin' after runnin low on cash years ago and poor places to store it...maybe someday :-\

    Dan Gibbs
    Rankin, MI

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  6. Dan Gibbs....After I posted, I took another look and realized my mistake. I just assumed that they would exibit the classic Bel Air, I had a fifty six six cyl. My friend bought a white 57 hard top with every option, including posi-traction. That car would snap your head back in every gear. I so envied him...Today a mint condition 57 like that one, would be worth a bundle. Bring back that Malibu and people will envy you.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.