1986 Oldsmobile 98 gets no respect at Mecum Dallas

One-half of Oldsmobile's demise was poor design. This advertising campaign is widely credited with being the other half. Olds simply turned its back on its core constituency, the over-50, middle to upper-middle-class doctor, bank president, retiree, etc. These were the core buyers of Oldsmobiles since forever. Yes, Olds had the performance 442 and all that, but, through thick and thin, over Olds' many decades of existence, it was these buyers who were Oldsmobile's bread-and-butter. And just like that, Olds said it didn't want them anymore. These cars may have been "Not Your Father's...", but there were still quite a few of these fathers out there who might been ready to plunk down some cash for the umpteenth Oldsmobile they would have owned in their lives, but suddenly they felt unwelcome, and they went elsewhere.

Yes, you should try to expand your sales by trying to appeal to other segments of the market. But don't at the same dismiss the segment of the market you're relied on for pretty much all of your existence.

 

They were still making those cars, they just didn't focus their advertising on them anymore. They could have said, "We still make those 'old guy' cars, but we want you to buy these other 'younger-looking' cars we make."

 

I hope they could have done better than that. No one likes to be called "old guys," especially old guys!

 

Pontiac did this in the '50s without saying so and invigorated the brand into a sales force juggernaut. It also helped that they built impressive cars with a performance edge to appeal to the younger crowd while still selling that same car to their older customers. These FWD cookie cutter cars aren't.

 

Well, just remember that Dirty Harry drove them in "The Dead Pool." Of course, he had one crashed at the beginning, and the other was blown up....

 

Probably because Oldsmobile made them available cheap to movie producers!

 

Remember, Clint "Dirty Harry" Eastwood was the executive producer on that flick. Personal preference?

 

Possibly, but I would guess not. It was probably whichever automaker gave the production company the best deal. Olds was probably happy to have their full-size cars at the time getting exposure in then-current movies. Product placement (in movies, tv shows, etc.) is a significant part of overall product marketing.

For all we know, Olds might have simply given their car to the producers at no charge in exchange for their being prominently featured in the film.

 

I think Clint Eastwood was a Ford Guy originally. I know the original Dirty Harry’s featured Ford Galaxie, and a Ford Torino in the later ones. He also drove a Satellite, and an Olds. I too think they gave the nod to whomever offered the cars through their marketing arm.

 

Olds designers did what they could with the platforms they were given by GM. The contemporary Buick’s and Pontiac’s didn’t set the styling world on fire either. It seemed at that time Ford had the visionary leadership to take a risk with the Taurus and Sable.
The Aurora was a very capable car that was failed by marketing and advertising. The il advised “not your father’s Oldsmobile” had already done damage to the brand and it seemed like they didn’t know what to do with the new Aurora. A blueprint for a revitalization had already been executed by Pontiac in the late 50’s and through the 60’s by focusing on a younger audience without alienating its current customer base. There is an old saying in the auto business that you can sell an old man a young man’s car, but you can’t sell a young man an old man’s car.
Blame GM corporate senior management with the death of Olds, Pontiac, Saturn and running the company into bankruptcy.

 

It’s interesting to go back and look at the advertising for Pontiac in the 1960’s. The work done by Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman was beautiful and aspirational for the Pontiac brand. Compare that to Olds advertising of the late 80’s and 90’s to see how far the craft had fallen.

 

So true. Suggest anyone who is able to attend a Barrett-Jackson or Mecom auction to check out the memorbilia halls for advertising art. Was able to pick up a full page 1960 Pontiac Safari ad from National Geographic for a buck a few years ago.

 

Here is the ad.

 

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At one time dollar for dollar Oldsmobile was one of the best cars .... reason is they were part of the Cadillac-Oldsmobile division .

Quality was high .... warranty claims were very low .... the factory was very organized and efficient ... no bumbling fools there like Chev had .... profits were high especially for the dealer network ... the wholesale cost of an Olds was just a bit higher than a Chev but the selling price was much higher for the Oldsmobile.

Bean counters in GM head office treated them like orphans .... to them GM was Chevrolet .... and every time Oldsmobile gained a new customer they were customers who previously bought Chevys .

Eventually head office began incorporating the same platforms in chev olds buick and Pontiac with different bodies and nameplates.

Study American success stories and you will see their demise was always caused by bureaucratic bean counters in head office.

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Oldsmobile took one last stab at it, with of all folks.......

The New Generation of Olds - The Judds 1989 - YouTube