Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows a 1966 black-and-white television advertisement for the General Motors-Holden’s HR sedan. In the clip a man leaves a suburban home and drives an HR sedan in mountainous terrain. The car and road are shown from various angles, intercut with shots of galloping wild horses. The upbeat soundtrack is punctuated by the sound of pounding hooves, and a male chorus sings a jingle with the refrain ‘Holden’s got more horses’. The clip concludes with the graphic ‘Turbo-smooth HOLDEN’. Both the footage and narration extol the optional X2 engine.

Educational value points

• The advertisement is designed to appeal to a male audience by associating the Holden HR sedan with qualities seen at the time as the prerogative of the male, such as adventurousness and independence. The facts about the car’s engineering components and the images of wild horses position power and performance at the centre of the advertisement’s sales pitch. The escape from the suburban home into an expansive landscape promises freedom and independence.

• This clip highlights the twin-carburettor X2 145-horsepower engine that was optional for HR sedans and was a major selling point because of its signature ‘turbo-smooth’ power. The high-performance engine was the most powerful Holden model engine released to date, which may have contributed to the HR being one of the highest selling of all Holden series models. Two lower-powered engines were also available for the HR.

• Holden became established as Australia’s most popular car maker in the 1950s and 60s. This position was built on Holden’s claim of suitability to Australian conditions, post-Second World War developments in transportation, and the rapid growth of suburbia. A loyal customer base and new generation of consumers in the 1960s ensured Holden’s grip on the market remained strong until the mid-1970s, when it faced increased international competition and rising production costs.

• This advertisement uses rapid montage, a clever script and careful choice of imagery to market the HR. It builds momentum through a driving rhythm and associates the HR’s increased engine capacity with the harnessed power of wild horses. Juxtaposed aerial shots of horses with the HR on the road visually associate the two elements to reinforce the script, which describes the car’s ‘harnessed, controlled, disciplined’, ‘thundering power’.