VOLVO V70: I am the same concerning my commercial attention span. I’m a member of commercialsihate.com forum and when a new commercial is being hated I will vaguely recall seeing something like it but have no idea what they were selling. I do remember every AT&T “Lilly” commercial.
Cliff51: I remember when the new cars coming out in September was a big deal. I think some 2016s have been out for months. Also the new cars back then looked different than last years model. Now they just have different tech gadgets.
chunkyazian: I have owned 3 Mazdas. 2 Rx7s and 1 Miata. They all went Zoom Zoom!
As a non-scientific sampling that becomes quite an anti-advertisement of sorts … several neighbors worked at the two Chrysler plants here before those were closed. All those neighbors and their families drove Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth vehicles bought at employee discount. Now, some years after those plants and the jobs are long gone, none of them have any Chryco products.
Bait and switch car ads, both print and broadcast, tout a model of car at an attractive price, citing all the desirable features. A few minutes research, though, reveals the attractive price is for the base model and that available dealer stock has only one or perhaps two of those with all the rest of available vehicles higher trim levels at much higher prices.
But I did like the Tiger Paws tire commercials years ago. The tiger faces of those tires with grippy claws grabbing traction were a good cartoon. 
The 914/6 had a real 2 liter Porsche flat 6
I had a 1997 Mazda Protege 1.5 . . . it did NOT go zoom zoom
Very ordinary, and not particularly fun to drive
then again, the car was built several years before the “zoom zoom” commercials
personally I absolutely hate those “zoom zoom” commercials. I hated them right from the start, as a matter of fact, and I think it’s time to move on to something more mature, if you will
As a non-scientific sampling that becomes quite an anti-advertisement of sorts ..... several neighbors worked at the two Chrysler plants here before those were closed. All those neighbors and their families drove Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth vehicles bought at employee discount. Now, some years after those plants and the jobs are long gone, none of them have any Chryco products.
Brother-in-law is a retired chrysler plant manager. His main car is a Honda. Loves it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Chrysler, but I wonder if some of that could be, I don’t want to use the term ‘sour grapes’, but if I worked for a company that shut my plant down and put me out of work, I don’t think I’d want to be a customer of theirs ever again and have my money contribute to their profits and success, even if they made a superb product. Human nature is what it is. Heck, I’m still mad at an insurance company that ripped me off over 20 years ago.
@“Ed Frugal” I know just how you feel about being ripped off by an insurance company. I become angry if I am ripped off or buy a product that isn’t satisfactory. This past spring, I had to install new toilets in the women’s room at the church I attend. I bought two toilets that were the Consumer Reports recommended toilets. I had some problem with the first one getting it not to leak between the tank and the bowl. The second toilet was even worse–I could not stop the leak between the tank and bowl. I took the tank back to Lowes and they gave me new tank to bowl hardware. That didn’t solve the problem. I finally returned the toilet, picked up the store brand which cost half as much and got credit on our account. I had the new toilet installed in 15 minutes with no problem. However, the defective toilet left such a bad taste in my mouth that if I go into a public restroom that has facilities made by the brand I first tried to install(and it is a common brand) I just walk out and hope I don’t wet my pants. I am starting a one man war against this brand of bathroom fixtures.
As far as commercials for cars are concerned, I liked to hear Dinah Shore sing “See the USA in your Chevrolet”. I don’t think Chevrolet has had a better commercial since that time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of Chrysler, but I wonder if some of that could be, I don't want to use the term 'sour grapes', but if I worked for a company that shut my plant down and put me out of work,
The only sour grapes my brother-in-law my brother-in-law had were the crap vehicles he bought from Chryco after he retired. Chryco was actually doing well before he retired…long before the merge with Mercedes. Bought several pickups for a construction business he and his son started when he retired. Had such miserable luck with them. Now he’s completely retired and needed a very reliable car. That’s why he bought the Honda.
I’ll bet if Chrysler products had been as poorly made as they became in the late 1970s, Groucho Marks wouldn’t have been urging people to visit their DeSoto/Plymouth dealers,and tell them “Groucho sent me”.
Chrysler’s quality has a history of going up and down. Through about 1954, Chrysler products were generally rugged and reliable. The only real problems were some of the cars where,the engine and transmissions of cars equipped with torque convertors shared the same oil. The 1953 Plymouth with HyDrive, the 1953 Dodge with GyroTorque and a couple of Chrysler and DeSoto models from 1951-1953 had this same arrangement. If one bought the cars with the fluid coupling instead of the torque converter, the problem didn’t exist as the transmission fluid and engine oil weren’t shared. The TorqueFlite transmissions that came after that were great, but Chrysler bodies in the late 1950s were so bad they rusted in the showroom. In the early 1960s_Chrysler went to work to improve its quality and,in 1963 became the first manufacturer to offer a 5 year 50,000 mile power train warranty. The Chrysler product quality was reasonably good until about 1970 when it slipped again to an all time low with the Plymouth Volare. I thought Lee Iaccoca had Chrysler going in the right direction. The University where I taught bought some K Cars for its fleet and I used the K Cars to drive ve 60 miles each way to an extension class I taught. I liked the K Cars better than the Ford Tempos and Chevrolet Citations in the fleet. However, after Iaccoca, the quality went back down. I guess it depends how on which Chrysler company built the cars and trucks.
The Chrysler product quality was reasonably good until about 1970 when it slipped again to an all time low with the Plymouth Volare.Through the 60's and 70's Chroco still had MAJOR rust problems. Especially the upper fenders near the windshield. I knew MANY people who owned Chroco's of that era...and EVERY ONE that didn't get rust protection had the same rusty fenders within 3-4 years. Not some...not most...everyone.
I’ve always heard bad stories like these about Chrysler products. In my family, my father had 3 bad Chryslers and my sister had 2 bad Chrysler products. I once said I wouldn’t have a Chrysler product if it were offered to me for free, and then violated myself when I took that Jeep Grand Cherokee. Why was I so surprised that I got burned? Although, to be fair, I cannot entirely blame Chrysler for my Jeep’s problems because it was a vehicle that had spent much of its life “sitting”. Of course, if I had stuck to what I had originally said about not accepting a Chrysler product even if it were free, I would have spared myself all those repair bills. Live and learn.
I’ve never had issues with the 60s era Chrysler products I’ve owned. My late father owned a number of Chrysler products and so did my uncle. The latter would drive nothing but from the time he got out of the Rangers at the end of WWII until he passed away about 15 years ago.
The only issues I had was related to the clutch (Roadrunner) and knocking out several U-joints (Superbee) but that’s the driver; not the car make.
There’s also a reason older cars may have had tendencies to develop issues earlier than modern era cars and it has nothing to do with the build quality.
It’s the lead in the gasoline that was the problem.
db4690: The Porsche 914/6 slipped my feeble mind. They were hot! There were also the Triumph GT/6,TR250, and MGB/GT6 with 6cyl, and MGB/GT8 with the Rover (Buick) 215cu in all aluminum V8. It seemed when they improved somewhat underwhelming vehicles it was at the end of the production run. Yes. The Mazda “Zoom-Zoom” ads seemed to be aimed at 12 to 13 year olds. Were they expecting to sell cars to this demographic???
Perhaps Mazda’s “zoom zoom” ads are supposed to plant a seed in those 12 year old minds
And in a few years when they’re ready to buy a car . . .
db4690: I recall reading an article years ago concerning targeting advertising years down the road. I think it was found to be ineffective as the average consumer’s memory tends to be short term much like their attention span.
Right up through the '60s I believe GM, Ford, and Chrysler (in no special order) made the best cars in the world. Even in the luxury class, Cadillac, Lincoln, and New Yorker were synonymous worldwide for luxury and quality.
My how times have changed.
I’m sure you’re right . . .
but why do I remember many car advertising slogans from my youth?
The fact that I remembered them MIGHT have influenced the cars I did eventually buy