When Chevy Advertised Its Truck’s Comfy Ride by Shaking a Dummy Plumb to Death

There's a beautiful simplicity to television commercials from, say, 50 years ago. No computer-generated effects, no desperate appeals to your emotions, no internal canons or casts of recurring characters like some kind of Marvel movie (looking at you, Progressive.) When you wanted to showcase the supple ride of a vehicle traditionally associated with work, you hung a seat directly off a wheel, strapped in a dummy dressed like a cowboy, and let the the laws of physics do their thing.

This snippet comes from a promotional film Chevrolet made in 1972 that recently resurfaced thanks to the Instagram account classic_truck_products; it was also used by itself in a TV spot back in the day. The clip showcases the company's "massive girder-beam front suspension," which was anchored to the frame in two spots at a time when Ford's trucks were still working with one. Actually, right before the relevant bit, there's a head-on shot comparing both pickups, with their front bodywork completely removed ahead of the cabin, almost like a rolling cutaway. It's really cool.

https://youtu.be/pxGrdU7BFjc?si=714bWyMC290F6U\u002d\u002d\u0026t=435