Bob Hope for Chrysler

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on October 25th, 2010

The Male Half trash-picked an old football program from the Saturday, October 12, 1968, game between University of New Hampshire and University of Maine. (It was in a neighbor’s effects, left on the curb for pickup.) It’s a fascinating look into America in 1968– ads for the Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) and Army ROTC (“What’s so great about ROTC?”) and lots of pictures of burly, stern-looking, crewcut boys/men, some of whom no doubt ended up in the jungle in Southeast Asia not a few months after sitting for their portraits.

Coke bought the 4-page, inside insert (and paid for the color printing, probably!) and one of the color pages was this full-pager for Chrysler. The automaker sponsored all of Bob Hope’s specials on television (NBC?) and Hope was famous for his connection to college football– he highlighted the All-America Team every year on one of his specials. Apparently Hope and Chrysler found it advantageous to connect the automobiles with excellence in college ball.