Today’s ads for pickup trucks are designed to make everyone that owns one feel like a bad ass or a cowboy or the most manly dude in the ‘burbs. Back in the 1960s that wasn’t really the tack that companies took. They were featuring things like ride quality, agility, and how “car like” their trucks were because this was the dawn of the age where pickups became “daily” vehicles and not just machines operated by farmers and construction workers to get their jobs done. This 1967 Ford ad is a perfect example of that as it shows off all of that “car like” stuff in a fun way by making the pickup truck part of the Detroit Lions…and we literally mean part of the Detroit Lions.
Seeing the truck do “drills” and other stuff is fun and made us smile but the one thing that you really need to watch with a critical eye in this ad is the ending where there are a pair of truck football teams playing against one another. This is a quick portion of the ad but it is important to recognize the precision driving and coordination necessary to pull off a scene like this. You’ll see a host of trucks moving in different directions at the same time on what looks to be a regulation football field! The “running back” truck clearly has a traction-lok rear end because you can see it spinning both tires as the driver hammers the gas to “run” up field.
This is a fun video to watch on a Sunday…even though it isn’t football season!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A 1967 FORD TRUCK “WORK OUT” WITH THE 1967 DETROIT LIONS!
It was really tough to be disco,then immediately, have to be an urban cowboy.