Commercial Success: The 1986 Ford Taur-US, For US!
The 1980s. The decade that gave us Knight Rider, Gobots, rolled jeans and poofy hair also produced a lot of lousy cars. There were a few good ones, too, and the 1986 Taurus is at the top of the list. The new-at-the-time Taurus was a near instant phenomenon as it garnered over 200,000 sales in its first year along with the Motor Trend Car of the Year award and a spot on Car and Driver's 10Best list.
We'd argue that the Taurus was a family sedan far ahead of its time, but even the best product doesn't move off the showroom floor to the tune of 200,000 units without great marketing. Well, at least great-for-1986 marketing. Hit the jump to watch a one minute long Taurus commercial from the Taurus' first year on the market.
Back in the '80s commercials were all about the jingle, and this Taurus spot is a real toe tapper. And you won't have to count how many times the words Ford and Taurus are uttered, because we already did (seven Ford and 10 Taurus mentions). Fair warning: If you watch this ad you may be brainwashed into thinking that the Taurus is the American car that has exactly what you've been looking for. It happened to Neff, and it could happen to you.
[Source: YouTube]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
VictorRaikkonen 5:48PM (10/23/2009)
Wow, what a horrid commercial, but I like the bit about Ford 'listening to us'... rubbish.
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Jim 5:52PM (10/23/2009)
I'm guessing you weren't around in the '80s.
brad 5:54PM (10/23/2009)
Doesn't the announcer sound an awful lot like the Budweiser "Here's to you Mr. Jellybean car designer." ??
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fixitfixitstop 1:44PM (10/24/2009)
It might even be the same dude.
Brian05SEL 2:43PM (10/24/2009)
Ironically, it IS the same voiceover guy...
Real American Genius!!!
Derek 5:54PM (10/23/2009)
Wow...
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Farmboy 5:55PM (10/23/2009)
hahaha. Reminds me of the Menards commercials right now. Still, that car was ahead of its time, but then fell behind just as quick. It was a great vehicle but then became a stigma for the worthless and cheap. Now, Taurus is trying to claim its spot back in the full-sized market. I remember my mom's '91 Taurus wagon. POS, but it moved. :P
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Chief Oddball 6:00PM (10/23/2009)
We had an '88 Taurus LX. Two-tone black and gray, digital dash. Sucker was loud and heavy but very well built, gave us no trouble ever.
Got a red '93 Taurus SHO a bit later and dang, was that car a blast to drive. The Yamaha six sounded great too.
The Taurus really got nasty-looking in its second generation, when Ford turned it into a jellybean.
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NickDG 12:59PM (10/24/2009)
I believe you mean the 3rd gen.
Yaroukh 6:12PM (10/23/2009)
YouTube needs Unplay button.
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Citizen Chin 6:15PM (10/23/2009)
Ugh, so many of those horrible 80's car commercial jingles are stuck in my head even 20 years later. The worst of all was the one for the GMC Jimmy. Several of the Datsun commercials rank a close second. And the "Oh oh oh, what a feeling...Toyota!!!" ones an even closer third.
http://escapefromjersey.blogspot.com/
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Brian 6:16PM (10/23/2009)
We still have bad ones today:
SAAAAAAAAAAAVED BYYYYYY ZEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOO!
Brian 6:16PM (10/23/2009)
This car was nothing but a third rate ripoff of an Audi, except with crap reliability.
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Matt 6:32PM (10/23/2009)
And Ford wants the "new" one associated with that.
Bold Moves.
Brex 6:39PM (10/23/2009)
No, I believe that they exceeded Audi's crap reliability quite nicely.
BayAreaMech 6:55PM (10/23/2009)
You obviously weren't around in the '80's. Audis were remarkably awful cars back then, truly the worst in the industry for reliability. In all measures of mechanical and electrical quality they were right up there with '80's Hyundais. Thank goodness we aren't in the '80's anymore.
Brex 6:38PM (10/23/2009)
...lately.
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KazO 9:54PM (10/23/2009)
Yeah, why'd the best part of 80s Ford ads get cut off?
v6sonoma 6:37PM (10/24/2009)
I have driven a Ford lately and it is scary. JK
Jrejre 6:42PM (10/23/2009)
I can almost hear trey parker singing that. . .
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