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General Motors Holden – Holden’s Number One (c.1966)

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'Holden’s number one'

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This black-and-white television advertisement for Holden sedans and wagons incorporates the 'Holden’s Number One’ jingle. The cars feature prominently in three scenarios – a suburban family going on holiday, a group of friends on a skiing weekend, and an affluent couple out in the city at night.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

This ad emphasises the versatility of various new Holden models by showcasing them in different surroundings. We see a Holden trailing a boat down to the water for a family outing, two carloads of young people going skiing and an affluent couple hitting the town at night. The ad signals a slow shift in the Holden brand towards a younger, hipper market – slow because Holden are still including suburban families as one of the key groups (and social classes) benefiting from the cars in this ad.

This ad formed a template for others with the same jingle, all featuring leisure and recreation scenarios with Holdens parked in prominent locations and men nodding their head to camera. By featuring the cars in weekend and holiday situations, Holdens are associated with fun and good times – in all the ads, as seen here, the characters wear fixed smiles on their faces.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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