The Camaro has become deeply rooted in American culture through its numerous film and television appearances. The Camaro has been the subject of some of the most innovative and memorable marketing campaigns in the automotive industry. This blog post takes a look at some of the best Chevy Camaro print ads of all time. It has secured its place in pop culture through its advertising campaigns like the “Hugger” and “Disco” ads.
The Chevrolet Camaro is an American muscle car first introduced in 1966 as a 1967 model designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. Produced by GM from 1967 until 2002 and then again from 2010 to now. Nicknamed The Hugger, it has become an icon of the automotive industry, and its name has become synonymous with power and performance.
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Tough Act to Follow. Encore!
To introduce a new car you need to make a splash, this introductory ad from 1967 started the Huggers legacy. Building on the reputation the Chevy Corvette already had and using the, like this, then try that theme in a movie poster context. This sharp red, white, and blue coloring highlights American made. You can’t go wrong advertising two in one when you put two of your products in one ad.
The Camaro highlights a V8 up to 325 horsepower and Astro Ventilation (Chevy”s name for the fresh air vents in the dash). Comparing the Corvette to the Camaro lasted a long time, but this intro is one of the classics in the world of advertising. “Produced and Directed by Chevrolet.”
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Meet the masked marvel.
It’s the Silver age of comics and superheroes are dominating TV in the mid ‘60’s. Why not continue the Camaro introductions with a superhero? Meet the masked marvel is one of my favorite auto ads. Highlighting a cool feature, the hideaway headlights from the Rally Sport edition. This is another great ad that pulls the Camaro into the middle of pop culture, and starts its status as an icon.
Some interesting highlights from this ad are the SS 350 motor of course but also, wide red stripe tires, and high-rate springs. It even talks about protective conveniences like shoulder belt anchors. “It’s a ball-and-a-half."
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1968 Hugging Cousins
There’s a lot that you could do a few years ago that you can’t anymore. Hugging Cousins is a headline that wouldn’t even be thought of in an ad agency now. I love it and can not remember what it was like to be bold in advertising. This ad has an excellent layout with the copy on top and headline surrounding the great photography. It has simple direct and honest copy throughout, comparing the two, what they are and aren’t. They call it a sporty car, not a sports car. The ad even has a slight jab at the Mustang. “What we are telling you is, for the money, the Camaro comes surprisingly close (to the Corvette). Certainly closer than any other sportster outside the Chevrolet family”
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1968 Closest thing to a Corvette yet.
Ok, this is the last ad comparing the Camaro to Corvette. This campaign lasted three years and many different ads. That's an eternity, considering most campaigns only days now. Can you imagine Coca Cola with its 4 billion dollar marketing budget to keep the same campaign for more than a few weeks? The black and Hugger Orange of this ad are very striking, along with the top down view of the Z/28. This ad highlights all that sets it apart from the competition. Everything from the dual exhausts, to the 302-cu-in. V8, to the heavy duty radiator. This was also my dream car as a teenager, mine would be in Fantom Blue though.
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1969 Camaro’s New Super Scope
This ad is known for coining the phrase “It’s like frosting on the frosting” which is a great line describing adding something awesome to an awesome car. In general the ad layout is clean and basic like most ads of the time, but the copy is great.
“Basic ingredients, Camaro SS, The Hugger: 300-hp 350 V8, Wide Oval treads on 14 x 7 wheels. Beefed up suspension. Power disc brakes. A floor-mounted shifter.
Extra topping you can order: a new Super Scoop hood that shoots cooler air to the carburetor for an added dash of dash”
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1969 Camaro’s new Super Scoop. Step on the gas and it steps up performance.
More on the Super Scoop, this was a big deal back in the day with every American manufacturer adding features on the hood. Insert foot… open month is another line of gold by Chevrolet's marketing team. The last campaign of the 1960’s doesn’t move from the style of advertising since the Camaro launched. They managed to say scoop in this ad 5 times to make sure you remember it.
“Your Chevrolet dealer’s got the whole story on how the Hugger scoops the competition. Stop in. See for yourself. And step on it.”
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1970 New Camaro. Now our competitors know how the captain of the Titanic felt.
New decade and new Camaro, time for a major shift in style. It’s only 1970 but the seventies advertising style is already set in both color and style. This is another ad that would never see the light of day in today's PC world. “Now our competitors know how the captain of the Titanic felt.” is a pretty serious line. Debuting a brand new car in a new decade, they went in a while new direction. They moved away from photography to a contour illustration highlighting the very different front end. While the ad copy and other illustrations talk about everything new inside. I love the line about the “new advanced design suspension…To let you drive the car. Instead of vice versa. (Everybody knows how to build a suspension. We know how to make it work.)”
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1978 Reach for the sky.
A long time has passed through the lean automotive years before Chevy had a great advertisement. This one while still not the most exciting car has a great layout blending the two different angles of the car together. The top view highlights the t-tops, one of my favorite car features. You quickly notice something missing in the copy, not one mention of the engine, speed, or performance. The whole ad with the beautiful model is about the car's “new and exciting look”.
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1981 High (MPG) Roller
It’s now the 80’s, and still no mention of performance (nobody wanted to know how bad it was anyway). Time to switch to classic early 80’s sophistication. They did a great job of making a boring thing seem exciting. Highlighting MPGs within High Roller is a brilliant move. The car isn’t classy and fast but the ad gives it the image. They weren’t confident in the copy though putting “estimated MPG” in quotes a couple times and even saying “Actual highway miles will probably be less”. “Roll on, high roller”
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1981 Spread your wings
1981 was a good year for the Camaro marketing team with another great concept and layout. This is one of the few Z28 ads in a decade but still only one mention of “spectacular performance”. I love the ads style with black and red/orange with the doors open and placed at an angle. Looks ready to take off. This is also the beginning of less copy in ads though with almost 100 words it says very little and nothing memorable.
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1982 Z28 Camaro. So new, it’ll have the competition chasing shadows.
Who doesn’t love car magazine foldouts? This ad introduces the all new 1982 Camaro and started the shadows campaign which is one of my favorites. This is what you envision and see when you think of 1980's advertising. Back to the red white and blue color scheme puts the 70’s behind and brings everyone back to the golden age of the Camaro. With great photos of the car and interior you know the car is all new. “Smooth, sassy, ultra-sleek” is the perfect way to talk about the new car and give it a new image.
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1983 Camaro IROC-Z. 240 reasons to file a flight plan.
Growing up in the 80’s I have found memories of the IROC Camaro. This ad from 1983 is the quintessential ad and a true classic in the ad world. The Heartbeat of America is right up there with Apple's Think Different as the best taglines of the 1980’s. This ad tries to lessen the copy even more by using bullet points. Since the IROC is the highest performance model in a long time the ad focuses on performance again with it’s 240-horsepower V8. “Pilot license optional”
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1989 USA-1 Taking Charge
The 1989 USA-1 campaign ran to gain trust again, after years of poor quality and imports taking aways sales, they needed to convince everyone to buy American. The whole ad reads like a PR release and that makes it unique. “We’re going to prove that your faith in American ingenuity, technology and skill has not been misplaced”. Just by reading this ad you can tell what was going on in the automotive world when this ad came out. That said, the USA-1 tagline is a strong one and I love the classic license plate and mark.
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1997 If everyone owned one, maybe we could have Prevented disco.
Bold, awesome design and colors, grabs your attention. This ad is a true classic even before you read it. Not sure if we could have prevented disco by buying one. Disco wasn’t great but people in the nineties really hated that it existed. “Disco. It was a pimple on the face of music history.” Yikes. My favorite part is “Rock ‘n Roll is here to stay. So is the Chevy Camaro Z28” Within five years the car was discontinued.
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2015 Find New Roads
This one is here by default. I challenge you to find a great print ad from 2010 to 2022 for the Camaro… It may be dark and mysterious, but everything is safe and unexciting like this ad. Nothing wrong with it and it looks good, exactly like every other car ad from the last ten years. In 2011 they had a good headline “Street Art. Really really fast street art.” but the execution wasn’t very good and the photograph did not make it look like art or fast at all. Let's go, Camaro marketing team, we need some new inspiration.
The thrill of the open road, the rumble of the engine, and the iconic design that has captured the hearts of car enthusiasts for generations - the Chevrolet Camaro is an American muscle car legend. As we've taken a stroll down memory lane, revisiting the 15 best Camaro ads of all time, we're reminded of the incredible impact this car has had on popular culture. From its early days as a "Hugger" to its modern-day persona, the Camaro's advertising campaigns have been a masterclass in creativity, style, and sheer coolness. Whether you're a die-hard Camaro fan or just a lover of all things automotive, these ads are sure to bring a smile to your face and a rev to your engine. So, take a moment to appreciate the art of advertising and the muscle car that has become an integral part of American automotive history.
