Discover 1950’s Packard Television Advertising Campaigns

Packard Motor Car Company began showing television advertising in the mid-1950s. They featured Packard engineering to promote an advanced product that was attractively priced. Today, we commonly see ads as short as six seconds, so the TV commercials from the 1950 seem extraordinarily long to us. Imagine the family sitting around a small screen showing only black and white images! Only three channels! No internet! No remote! (How did we survive?) One of the top magazines of the day was TV Guide, a weekly listing of shows. The top TV programs of 1955 included The $64,000 Question, Disneyland, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Dragnet, and The Ed Sullivan Show. The TV was new, exciting, and brought the movie theater into the living room.

The Purpose of Packard Television Advertising

Effective marketing on TV programs could mean sales success or failure in the extremely competitive automotive marketplace. TV ads reached new audiences who wanted to purchase cars. All the manufacturers, not just Packard, focused on a car’s features, and usually included an announcer describing the vehicle. The car was the selling point, not the experience. This was the height of the post-war baby boom, the suburbanization of the country, and longer commutes.

So put on your Howdy Doody hat, sing the Mickey Mouse Club song, and try your Gold Star Stagecoach. Or better yet, enjoy these 1950s TV commercials from other brands to compare to the Packard ads.

Questions? Email or call (937) 226-1710

Can you guess the $64,000 answer to “what was the best car ever produced in the United States?” If you said “Packard” you win!

Packard Television Advertising. TV Guide $64,000 Question
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