Classic Lincoln Advertising As Art
By Frank Markus | From the April 2013 issue of Motor Trend | Nothing Could Be FinerDrawn Quarters
As a practical means of communication, photography is about as old as the automobile. But into the 1950s, automakers predominantly entrusted artists to idealize their products in advertising. Lincoln's first all-new postwar design for 1949 (see ad below) drew criticism because the cars were difficult to distinguish from the Mercurys with which they shared architecture, so the advertising art renders the smaller, sleeker cars to look longer and lower, backing up the theme "Nothing could be finer...or Newer!"
As a practical means of communication, photography is about as old as the automobile. But into the 1950s, automakers predominantly entrusted artists to idealize their products in advertising. Lincoln's first all-new postwar design for 1949 (see ad below) drew criticism because the cars were difficult to distinguish from the Mercurys with which they shared architecture, so the advertising art renders the smaller, sleeker cars to look longer and lower, backing up the theme "Nothing could be finer...or Newer!"
Race ReadyAnother downsizing for 1952 had Lincoln taking aim not at Cadillac, but at Oldsmobile, with models “powered to leave the past far behind.” The emphasis shifted from poshness to performance, as evidenced by the reference to four wins in the Mexican Pan-American Road Race. By 1953, when this Capri coupe was shot, Julia Meade was just starting her decade as the voice and face of Lincoln on Ed Sullivan’s wildly popular “Toast of the Town” TV show. 
Embryonic Fins
In the ‘50s, styling tricks were selling cars, and the tailfin, which got its start on the ‘48 Cadillac, was chief among them. This shot lets us take the full measure of Lincoln’s finlet, while the profile view emphasizes the “tasteful use of chrome.” Lincoln’s minimal ornamentation earned the mid-century “modern living” tagline, while racing successes warranted the “magnificent driving” line. But Lincoln never managed to out-macho Oldsmobile, so it stopped trying and marched back upscale for 1956.
Mixed Messages
Lincoln’s agency of record from 1948 to 1979 was Kenyon & Eckhardt, of Madison Avenue. Its “Mad Men” drew praise for the ‘55 campaign’s confident, eye-catching photography, but also criticism for the campaign’s lack of a consistent, coherent theme. Disparate ads stressed performance, refined elegance, or the pursuit of an active lifestyle. The unfocused campaign mirrored an internal struggle over which way to take the brand. Luckily, longer, lower, and wider would win the day. 
Trick Photography
At about the time this 1958 Premiere Landau was shot, Detroit’s Boulevard Photographic studio had devised a curved film holder that effectively stretched a car in the camera to appear longer and lower, providing the car was dead level with the camera. (Otherwise the car could appear bent, like a banana.) BP used the curved film holder for a few years before switching to an anamorphic lens that distorted the image by optical means, rather like a CinemaScope movie camera lens.
Luxury Redefined
After years of hollow hyperbole about the trendsetting design of the ‘57-’60 models, the ‘61-’69 Continental truly delivered it: Elegance, minimal ornamentation, and “suicide” rear doors.Early ads described it as “a new kind of fine car,” and in a reversal of the perennial “longer, lower” lingo, ads now boasted “greater luxury with 14 inches less length.” Lincoln’s industry-leading 2/24 warranty also figured prominently in ad copy, in an effort to repair a tarnished reputation for build quality.
All Access
In a rare return to illustration, this spare image depicts what other ads spelled out: “Four doors mean you walk into the rear seat...instead of climbing around the front seat.” The Continental was indeed America’s first and only four-door convertible since the demise of the short-lived ‘49-’50 Kaiser Deluxe. As the copy alludes, this ‘63 model’s $6916 base price would buy two loaded Ford Galaxie 500 Sunliners, but the Fords would certainly be worth way less than the Lincoln three years later.
Neoclassic
Photographer Mickey McGuire was directed to find “a smug, middle-aged, bald guy with a bad attitude” for this moody 1968 Continental Mark III ad, according to “Boulevard Photographic: The Art of Automobile Advertising.” The guy had plenty to be smug about when piloting this new personal luxury coupe, which was conceived to reclaim some of the original Continental Mk II’s exclusivity. Priced at $6585, it cost $615 more than the four-door Conti, but still undercut the 1956 original by more than $3000.
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