Retro advertising with laughter

zblorft
Why settle for a car when you can drive Zblorft? Source: Cris Shapan (Deluxe Fuxley Corporate Archives)

Have you heard of the car brand Zblorft? And has Doris Day posed in an advertisement for a steam roller? No, you shouldn't believe everything you see online. Everything can be "photoshopped", and that's exactly what illustrator Cris Shapan has done in these fabulous retro advertisements.

 

Should it be a Zblorft?

Automotive history is full of car projects that never succeed. Cars created by men with big ideas that ended up in the ditch. Zblorft - Transcarphatia's Most Exciting Auto - somewhat reminiscent of marketing illustrations Wartburg P-70 here at home in the 1950s, where small wheels and small people make microcars look like full-fledged cars. If you read the text, you understand that the car with the 2-cylinder 450 ccm engine that runs on paint thinner is just a fabrication. The illustration is masterfully made - with inspiration and sections taken from old advertising banners.
 
In the advertisement below, we get the Zblorft minibus with a bizarre undertone. An Eastern European vehicle that looks like one Russian UAZ which transports ordinary citizens behind bars on their way to a prison with guards in front. "Casa de nebuni" is Romanian for madhouse.

 

zblorft
When it's time to go, Zblorft can take you somewhere! Source: Cris Shapan (Deluxe Fuxley Corporate Archives)


Ford, but not Ford!

The advertisement below looks like a typical newspaper ad for a local American Ford dealer. The images and effects are probably taken from real ads from the early 1960s. But if we look more closely, there is no Ford advertisement. It's advertising for Eddie's father's car company, Glenn ford, which does not sell Ford, but Buick and Oldsmobile. The confusion becomes greater the more one reads. And the sarcasm is present everywhere The "New" 1960's Are Still Here, despite the fact that we are in 1963.

 

zblorft
Ford - But Not Ford! Source: Cris Shapan (Deluxe Fuxley Corporate Archives)

Doris Day and the steamroller

Layout and pictures are in line with something International harvester could have made. The image of Doris Day is cut out from another advertisement where she is sitting on a bicycle, and moved up on the steam road roller.
 

No, Doris, it doesn't have a make-up mirror, but the International 56 will hit the tarmac well before you can stop by the beauty parlor and get your hair done before fixing a delicious dinner for your man.

 

Chris Shapan
Doris Day International De Luxe Compactor. Source: Cris Shapan (Deluxe Fuxley Corporate Archives)

Driving with a blindfold

In the 1950s and 1960s, it was common to advertise with so-called "blindfold tests". The candidates were blindfolded to choose from several products. Nevertheless, Shapan's illustration is quite relevant. It happens again and again. People can't drive without running over something. Especially now in the run-up to Christmas, one can wonder if anyone is actually driving blindfolded.

 

fuxley
Dodge Blindfold Test

 


Source: Cris Shapan (Deluxe Fuxley Corporate Archives)

Terje Bjørnstad. Blog administrator, hobby photographer and car enthusiast.

Post a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.