Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Cities Service Luxury Driving Ad – July 1, 1958

Here’s an unusual approach to marketing gasoline: position it as a luxury item for women. That’s the gimmick at work in this ad for Cities Service, which ran in the Lorain Journal on July 1, 1958.

The ad was part of a series with the same luxury theme. Here they are in color – beginning with the same ad above – courtesy of the good folks at magazine-advertising.com.

I like the way the gas pump subliminally serves as a TV.
But what about the men? Cities Service didn’t forget about them. Here’s a nice manly ad from 1963 with mountains and a crystal clear lake that’s no doubt teeming with bass. Plus the ad agency threw in a cute cartoon beaver gas attendant to appeal to that part of the public that is a sucker for advertising mascots (like me).
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Speaking of Cities Service, I drove by Benny’s Carriage Shoppe on Reid Avenue last weekend and took the shot below. I really like that retro gas station look.


I also featured Benny’s on this blog back in 2015 (here).

2 comments:

Buster said...

It's not clear what is luxurious about gasoline. I suppose you could bathe in it, but the smell would be awful, unless you are looking to attract garage mechanics.

Dennis Thompson said...

The lady on the water skies looks like she is in a canal. Hope she makes that hard right turn!