For 1958, Ford Motor Company adopted a fresh marketing message, presenting all its car brands united under one corporate umbrella. Here’s the pitch.
The observation may be a bit unfair, perhaps simplistic, but it’s been said that in the 1950s, Henry Ford II, supreme commander of the Ford Motor Company, had a serious case of General Motors envy. Many of his decisions at the time, critics say, seemed designed to make the automaker more like crosstown rival GM, whether it was for better or for worse. The Edsel, introduced for MY 1958, could be one example. Ford now had an Oldsmobile-like entry to broaden its product line, but whether Ford needed its own Oldsmobile was another matter. The car-buying pubic didn’t seem to think so, as things turned out.
The observation may be a bit unfair, perhaps simplistic, but it’s been said that in the 1950s, Henry Ford II, supreme commander of the Ford Motor Company, had a serious case of General Motors envy. Many of his decisions at the time, critics say, seemed designed to make the automaker more like crosstown rival GM, whether it was for better or for worse. The Edsel, introduced for MY 1958, could be one example. Ford now had an Oldsmobile-like entry to broaden its product line, but whether Ford needed its own Oldsmobile was another matter. The car-buying pubic didn’t seem to think so, as things turned out.
In this two-minute promo from 1958, the full Ford Motor Company product line is presented, GM style, as one big, happy family of cars: Ford, Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln, with the Continental and Thunderbird presented here as stand-alones as well. This unified corporate approach was a recurring theme for the Dearborn automaker in its messaging that year, appearing in both the TV and print campaigns (as in the illustration above). In this broad, rich variety of FoMoCo models, went the sales pitch, buyers could find “more new ideas… more YOU ideas!” Video follows.
Article courtesy of Mac's Motor City Garage.
