The pleasures of driving
Sometimes sexist, other times hilarious, back in the day a beautiful girl on the bonnet could entice men to buy an ugly car
Since the conception of advertising, marketers have used beautiful women to lure buyers towards their products, and motoring is no exception.
Across the years the use of women in car advertisements ranged from extremely sexist to utterly hilarious.
But no matter how distasteful and bare, many people bought cars for the sole reason of the ‘rack’ posing on the bonnet, rather than for the benefits of rack and pinion steering.
These are a few examples:
• Daihatsu urged people to buy their little combi because ‘It picks up five times more women than a Lamborghini’.
The ad showed the lucky Daihatsu driver with a combi full of pretty girls.
• Subaru described their GL Coupe as ‘Just like a spirited woman who yearns to be tamed’, with the customary pretty face posing with the (not so appealing) car and driver.
• Rover/Leyland claimed ‘Rover men own the most beautiful bodies and have what it takes’.
The ad pictured a hairy chested guy posing with his Rover and three bikini clad girls at his feet.
Lady killer
The Dodge driver must be the king, because back in the day ads from this manufacturer featured more scantily clad women than what they did cars.
Some Dodge ads didn’t even contain a car, but only women in provocative positions claiming, ‘He’s not the same since he started to drive a Dodge’ (with eyes closed, lips slightly parted and cheeks flushed red).
The Dodge man must have been a real lady killer.
Pontiacs must have been often seen parked in dark corners, because they marketed their Star Chief as the car with the most room in the rear.
‘Spread your legs and enjoy maximum legroom in the Pontiac’.
The ad featured, again, a gorgeous blond in the back seat with the lucky Pontiac driver as company.
While in this day and age car companies refrain from using buxom blonds in their ads, what you drive still has a direct influence on your popularity with the opposite sex.
If you pick your date up in something red, sporty and expensive, then best pack an overnight bag.
But if you don’t own a car, expect to spend many hours alone on the couch.
