This 1966 Wagoneer commercial from Kaiser-Jeep. According to the commercial’s poster:
“1966 Kaiser Jeep Wagoneer Commercial. The young boy in the commercial is Radio Personality from New Jersey, Dan Klein as a child. He recalls the woman playing the part of the Mother as a Mrs. Emily Mooney. The Husband is Thom Whims and the little girl is Tricia Murphy Duffy. I don’t really understand the commercial, a driver-less jeep wandering on the beach??? … And I LOVE the kid dressed up like a camouflage solider, this was when it was not politically incorrect to dress that way! I don’t think any car company would show that in a commercial now a days. The famous Industrial designer, Brooks Stevens is credited with it’s design. He did much work for Kaiser Industries and also Studebaker. This was one of his timeless designs that still looks good today. The commercial itself was filmed in 1965. The location is the shores of Avalon New Jersey, USA. Apparently according to the young girl in the film, the shots took hours and it was an extremely hot day.”
Having lived in northern New Jersey most of my “soul searching” life, I vaguely remember this 1966 commercial. In my opinion, very cleverly done, connecting the past with the present. During World War 2, German spy subs were detected along the Jersey coast. Jeep Wagoneer to the Rescue, the little kid in army uniform is kind of a stretch, but for the sake of advertising, it works. This commercial is all meant to be somewhat a dream sequence, hence the Jeep with no driver, family alone on the beach, Like Mighty Mouse, Here is Jeep to save the day! Subliminal messaging is a big part of this commercial, the thought is planted in one’s mind connecting a valued thought with the desire for the advertised product. The series Mad Men, is a excellent example of this style of advertising in the 1950’s & 60’s.
As to the aspect of Avalon NJ, the Jersey shoreline was, and still is a mix of open public and restricted beaches. Avalon was one of the restricted communities back in 1965, (wealth) because of this reason, lack of crowds on the beach, filming was made easier. In summery, everything you ever wanted to know about New Jersey but were afraid to ask.
Mike, I still haven’t seen the Mad Men series; I’m sure I’ll binge it at some point. We only just completed the Sapranos. I can see why it was so well regarded, especially Gandolfini’s performances.
After that splash in the sea water, I feel safe in my prediction that the Wagoneer pictured ended up rusting out before it was sold. Those early Wagoneers were notorious rust buckets.
Dave,
Talk about the Sapranos, many scenes were filmed in my home town of Clifton, NJ, a true reflection of NJ life. (If you know what I mean) I’ll save my stories for another day.
Mike … hmmm … sounds like some good ones 🙂
Great “summery” Mike! You nailed it ;-).
I miss our many Summers on the NJ shore (Point Pleasant area)… and boating the waters off Shrewsbury and Navasink.
Now we have 3 granddaughters in Bayville and a newborn (2 days old!) in Plainfield. Hope I get a chance to meet you on one of our trips back there, Mike :-).
Joe,
We have a lot in common, NJ & Jeeps just to start with. Glad yo “caught” the “summery” play on words.