Classic car, classic ads?

MG had a history of producing classic advertisements for its cars. "Safety Fast!" became a slogan synonymous with the brand.

According to the various fundi on the MG forums, the origin of the slogan was George Tuck, who was the publicity manager for the MG Car Co Ltd in the 1930s. The story goes that Ted Colegrove, the original Sales Manager of the company at Abingdon was driving behind one of the new buses in Oxford. The bus had a big red triangle on the back and words "Safety First!" painted through it, to indicate that they were fitted with four wheel brakes which was a novelty then. Ted thought that if the "ir" was replaced by an "a" it would make a jolly good slogan for the MG, so he went back to Abingdon and, with George, sold this idea to Cecil Kimber, one of the founding fathers of MG. From then onwards it was the only slogan for MG! It was still being used into the 1960s. For example, it appeared on a 1962 MG Midget advert - "Safety Fast motoring is the safest of all".

Now my interest is more at the other end of the decade.  The MG Midget was still trading on its sporting heritage in the sales brochures for the Mark III model.  "Sport the real thing" became the slogan for both Midgets and MGBs. I've been hunting around on eBay for bits of memorabilia and picked up a framed original, fittingly featuring a glacier white Midget similar to ABW.

1970 MG Midget sales brochure

The time around 1970 is widely recognised as the nadir of MG advertising, although it has a certain period charm. For a while "Your mother wouldn't like it" was the banner on many ads - though it was never clear whether this referred to the car or the driver!

Of course, the driver was inevitably a man, even though a reasonable proportion of owners were women.  Some of the copy must have seemed quite dodgy at the time; it seems downright sexist now!  An example was the "You can do it in an MG" slogan... very Carry On!

My favourite period advert tried to address the question of the manliness of the MG Midget; it carries the slogan: "85% of Midget owners are men". In marketing terms you might describe this advert as "suggestive".  It features a scantily-clad young  lady fondling the handbrake!  The copy is even better, reminding you that "lots of girls will be relaxing in our new, thick contoured rake adjusting seats."

MG Midget advert, 1970 

Mrs C was horrified when I purchased this one on eBay; "Not in this house" or something similar! Some of the other copy on this advert is open to challenge too: "Magnificent high speed cruising."  Whatever you might say about the MG Midget, it is not a high speed cruiser.

How different these adverts are to those that were used just 10 years earlier to advertise the Austin Healey Sprite.

Austin Healey Sprite brochure, 1958

 Ahhh!  Halcyon days!