I remember a T.V. ad where each piece of the star was "zoomed" into place following a shot of a corresponding vehicle. A strong male voice pronounced the name of each car line as the "zooming" occured. I think that they were in the order that I listed in my previous post. This may have been the what happened to introduce "The Bob Hope Chrysler Theater". Paul W. In an email dated Sat, 19 11 2005 5:24:26 am GMT, "Bill Watson" <wwatson5@xxxxxxxxx> writes: > >Your memory serves you right, except for "Of course, it also reflected the 5 >automotive divisions of Chrysler." ? The whole idea of adopting the >pentastar was to expand the public's knowledge of Chrysler beyond the >rubber-wheeled divisions. ? Besides, Chrysler has NEVER had 5 automotive >divisions. ?When the pentastar was approved in late 1962, there were but two >automotive divisons- Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge. > >The DeSoto division disappeared in 1959 when it was merged with the Plymouth >Division. ?Then the Plymouth-DeSoto Divsion was merged with the >Chrysler-Imperial Division to form the Chrysler-Plymouth Division after the >DeSoto was dropped. > >Like it or not, but the Imperial Division existed only on paper - it was the >brainchild of the marketing department. ?Which is part of the reason >Chrysler was never able to completely separate the Imperial from the >Chrysler. ?If you check the list of divisions and corporate excecutives of >the Chrysler Corporation over the years, you will not find any mention of an >Imperial Division. ?All designing, engineeering and marketing of the >Imperial automobile fell under the Chrysler Division (1955-1959), >Chrysler-Imperial Division (1959-1960) and Chrysler-Plymouth Division >(1960-1975). ? ?You will find Imperial Division only on advertising items, >etc. > >One other important aspect of the pentastar is that it looks correct even if >it is looked at upside down or on the reverse. ?Which makes it perfect for >rotating signs, etc. ? In the 1960's Chrysler's pentastar became as well >known and noticed as Howard Johnson's roof. > >Bill >Vancouver, BC > > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Mark McDonald >To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 7:30 PM >Subject: Re: IML: Chrysler Pentastar > > >In a box somewhere I have a publication that was written by the advertising >firm that created the Pentastar for Chrysler and there was actually quite a >lot of thought and research that went into the adoption of the Pentastar as >the new corporate symbol for Chrysler in the 1960's. > >It has to do with what is now called "branding." At that time-- like today-- >Chrysler Corp. did not just make automobiles. They had an aerospace >division, a boating division, a company that made air conditioners, a >company that made tanks, etc., etc. I can't remember right now what all they >made, but it was a very diverse list. > >The point is, every single one of these companies had a different logo and >used different styles of lettering, different colors, etc., to identify >itself, and the result was the general public had no idea that company A and >company Z were all part of the Chrysler family, or Chrysler brand. So the >idea was to take all these different companies and products and bind them >together and create one unified concept of "the Chrysler Corporation" in the >public's mind. In other words, when John Q. Public saw the Chrysler logo on >an outboard motor he was supposed to think "Oh, that's a Chrysler. That's >made with the same quality and degree of engineering sophistication found in >an Imperial . . . or a Saturn 1 booster . . . or an M1 tank," or whatever. >I'm probably not explaining it very well, but the idea behind this was to >make the consumer associate certain positive qualities with your product, >such as "sturdiness," and to feel that they were getting those qualities, or >properties, whenever they purchased a product with your logo on it. > >"Engineering excellence" was one of the qualities research had indicated the >public already associated with Chrysler, and that is one of the reasons the >shape of a pentagon was chosen, because it was sharp-edged and symmetrical >and seemed to suggest precision. (Of course, it also reflected the 5 >automotive divisions of Chrysler.) The color blue was chosen as the >corporate color for similar reasons, and they even issued "style manuals" to >every Chrysler company to make sure that, not only was the Pentastar used >and displayed properly, but that the blue used in signs and on buildings was >the exact shade of "Chrysler blue." > >In the end, it worked. You can show a Pentastar to just about anyone in the >world and they will say "Chrysler"-- just like if you show them a red square >with a swoosh through the middle, they say "Coca Cola," even if the words >aren't there. But it may have had an unintended effect in that it made the >Imperial seem like "just another Chrysler." > >If I can dig this publication out I will try to scan it and get it posted to >the site. It's really fascinating reading (to me, anyway!). > >Mark M > >P.S.: > >Regarding the emblem on the '69 LeBaron, I don't know any more about it than >anyone else has already mentioned, but I find it highly suspect simply >because the typeface used does not appear to correspond to any other >typeface being used on a Chrysler automobile in 1969 that I can recall, and >typefaces were very tightly controlled by designers at that time to be >consistent, year to year, model to model (still are). It appears to me to be >from the early 60's, when this kind of typeface was more popular (maybe >'63?-- total guess). > > >On Friday, November 18, 2005, at 12:12 PM, Douglas Nieblas wrote: > > >The Pentastar was adopted by Chrysler in 1963 because the corporate "brains" >felt that the Chrysler ribbon was outdated. Also axed was the Plymouth ship >in 1959 and the Dodge ram in the mid-fifties. The name Ram was continued on >the pick-ups. Though Dodge, Plymouth, and Imperial would adopt other emblems >throughout the 60's and 70's, by the 80's the Pentastar was used across the >board. Even the 1990's Imperials used an emblem bordered with a pentagon. It >was a relief when later in the 90's that Chrysler decided to resurrect their >old logos. Unfortunately, Imperial was not around to celebrate the >automotive renaissance that followed. >Doug >'58 Crown coupe > > > >----------------- ?http://www.imperialclub.com ?----------------- >This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please >reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be >shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the >Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm > > ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. 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