Great Commercials--Plymouth Sundance
by Chris Hafner
on June 11, 2008
Kids, this is how they used to make commercials--with lots of strident spoken proclamations over a montage of patriotic feel-good images. Of course, those images had nothing to do with the car. Kids walking away hugging, a dog wearing goggles, food being served at a drive-in by a roller-skated attendant; all irrelevant to the car, but meant to evoke the Sundance's made-in-America status.
By the way, "The Pride Is Back" being sung over an image of a rippling American flag? Were we really that dependent on the Plymouth Sundance for our national self-esteem? (By the way, the Esteem was a Suzuki).
The best moment of this commercial, though, comes just five seconds in. Simply fantastic. We were a nation of dorks in 1987.
--Chris H.
Chris on June 11, 2008 at 05:41 PM
I love it. "47 standard features. . ." Nice and specific, let's see if we can name 47 standard features of that car. Well, it's got tires, so, that's 4 features!
Mochi Mochi on June 11, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Everyone needs a dog with googles hanging out the passenger window. What I want to know is will Lee Iacocca give me the thumbs-up? Lee Iacocca and the American flag - which is more patriotic?
More of the 47 features. An engine. A windshield. A roof. Amazing.
Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame on June 12, 2008 at 05:20 AM
I may be wrong, but I think that footage at 5 seconds in was from the US Twit of the Year competition.
OldCarGuy on June 12, 2008 at 06:44 AM
At 20 seconds, doesn't it look like they have more luggage than the truck will hold?
And at 22 seconds...yeah, my wife always wears white when she's polishing her car, too.
Rob the SVX guy on June 12, 2008 at 07:32 AM
The really sad thing is that this car would fly off the lights right now if Chrysler started building it again. Right now they have NOTHING in terms of small cars. They had the neon, a 2400lb lightweight, nimble handling car with 130 or 150 hp engines. The interiors were total garbage, but the car was fun to drive and fuel efficient. Instead of fixing the problem, instead they gave it fat and tall styling for the redesign in 2000, and made it heavier and cushier. It was still 'okay', but it lost it's edge. Then chrysler killed it completely and replaced it with ... wait... no... they didn't replace it with anything. They just started building some fat, heavy (3300lbs!!!) caliber as a 'small' car. Um. What?! That's 900lbs more than the neon was!
I used to love Chrysler... but honestly, this is like watching a bird flop around on the ground with a broken wing. Just smack it with a shovel and put it out of it's misery. If we don't, some wealthy Arabs will buy it. Mark my words.
David Colborne on June 12, 2008 at 08:06 PM
Quote:
OldCarGuy on June 12, 2008 at 06:44 AM
At 20 seconds, doesn't it look like they have more luggage than the truck will hold?
************
I had a Dodge Shadow (Dodge version of the aforementioned Sundance). One of the neater things about that car was that the rear seat could fold down, giving you ridiculous amounts of cargo room for a car that size. Think "station wagon" only without it actually looking like a station wagon. Also, the "America" package was actually pretty nice, features-wise; you'd get cruise control, air conditioning, rear window defrost... pretty much all of the stuff we take for granted these days, but a lot of them were still options on other makes and models at the time.
Rob - I hear you. I don't know what they were smoking with the Caliber either. The worst part is that their mid-size (Avenger/Sebring) technically gets better gas mileage. That just completely kills me. Don't even get me started on the Jeep Compass... it's almost as if the Germans wanted to lose. Heck, remember the Intrepid? There was a mid-size that was actually a decent car. Sure, the paint peeled and the interior was a joke, but at least it had a little kick.
Brian on June 12, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Bwa-haha, i think I've got this commercial somwhere on VHS, possibly on a reel of star-trek episodes. You can look at it as ironically cynical, or ridiculously poor taste what with all the flags & slogans. Not surprising tho.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on June 13, 2008 at 10:19 AM
I think "the pride is back" was meant to convey that Chrysler had crawled out of the depths it had plumbed with mechanical atrocities like the Aspen/Volare and the "Lean Burn" ECM. It was true: the various K-car variations (of which the Sundance was one), as dull and utilitarian as they may have been, were 'way better than what came before.