Question

What does the "Two Ford Family" Commercial tell us about life in the suburbs in the 1950s?

Answer 1

This ad for the mid-1950s Ford Customline Victoria sedan and Ranch Wagon doesn't make us nostalgic for yesteryear or want to head to our nearest soda fountain The spot we find on the opens with an unidentified well-coiffed housewife chatting over the phone, promising to meet a friend later. She looks into the camera after she hangs up and tells us she couldn't have made arrangements like that three weeks earlier because her friend, Dave, would have had to drive their one-car, a Ford Ranch Wagon, to get to work.

She adds, "I was practically a prisoner in my own home when he was gone." Her lack of a car meant that she "couldn't get out to see my friends, couldn't take part in PTA activities, why couldn't I even shop if I wanted to," until her hubby returned with the family hauler on Thursday nights. Fortunately, Ford gave the pair an inexpensive solution: the Customline Victoria sedan. Dave began using that as his commuter car, leaving his wife free to drive the Ranch Wagon. She sums it up saying, "It's an entirely new way of life. Now I am free to go anywhere, to do something, to see someone whenever I want.

The whole spot is a look back on a totally different age. Since the commercial was for the Customline of the second generation that came out in the mid-1950s, all the obvious things are as you would expect them to be. The video is in white and black. Dave's wearing a suit and a hat for work. His wife is wearing pearls, and using a landline. She doesn't talk in acronyms or hashtags. There's no avocado toast on the kitchen table and she doesn't take a image of it to later show off her pal.

Other reminders are that this commercial was shot in the past. The voiceover artist points out that by choosing from 20 models which are available with Thunderbird-inspired styling and Thunderbird power, customers can become a "two-Ford family." The car hasn't been around for a bit, but it's not the biggest shift up to now from then on. In the ad, the woman makes the new Ford sedan for her husband sound like a savior, a hero to their household. Ford seems to be seeing traditional four-doors in a much different light these days.