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General Motors Holden – John Fisher, Another Holden Driver (1962)

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John Fisher, another Holden driver education content clip 1

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This is a vox pop style interview with Hawthorn winger John Fisher about his Holden. 'Fish’ is interviewed by TV sports commentator Tony Charlton in a parking lot outside an AFL venue prior to a game.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

This advertisement is an example of associating a product with a well-known personality, in this case Hawthorn footballer John Fisher. Fisher’s testimony about the Holden is presented as reliable simply through his reputation. Product sponsorship by sporting personalities is now a lucrative business worldwide. Fisher’s manner is unassuming and down-to-earth, perhaps something that the GMH marketers thought would help their car seem suitable for everyday people as well as champions. Holden’s association with football (particularly AFL) carried on into the 1970s and 1980s, and one of GMH's most memorable campaigns used the slogan 'football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars’.

When Fisher explains to Charlton what he likes best about the Holden, he says 'my father’s always had them so I thought I’d drive one too’. By 1968, when the 'new generation’ model was released, GMH was ready to capitalise on this inter-generational – father to son – loyalty. Their 1968 campaign targeted a new generation of Holden drivers who, like John Fisher (and the kids in General Motors Holden – Happy in a Holden from the same 1962 campaign), grew up on the backseat of a family Holden car.

Teacher’s notes

provided by The Le@rning FederationEducation Services Australia

This black-and-white clip with sound shows a 1962 television advertisement for Holden cars. It features a vox-pop style interview between television sports presenter Tony Charlton and John Fisher, member of the Hawthorn team in the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League). The interview takes place in a parking lot outside a football stadium and in front of Fisher’s Holden FC sedan.

Educational value points

  • This clip shows two well-known personalities being used to sell Holden sedans, a marketing device widely used in advertising where lucrative sponsorship deals often include media appearances. Hawthorn winger John ‘Fish’ Fisher would have been recognisable to viewers and also had a soft-spoken trustworthy demeanour. To strengthen the sales pitch, Holden used sports broadcaster and 1960s media personality Tony Charlton as the interviewer.
  • The interview is in the style of a ‘vox pop’, a term that comes from the Latin ‘vox populi’, meaning ‘voice of the people’. Vox-pop interviews are often used to obtain popular opinion on a specific topic by the interviewer soliciting a statement of opinion from a member of the public. While traditional vox pops are often spontaneous, this advertisement features a recognisable sporting personality who was preselected to provide trusted testimony about Holden.
  • The Holden FC, the car featured in the clip, was released in 1958 and replaced the popular FE model. The FC featured cosmetic changes such as chrome trimming, a redesigned interior, and several mechanical and engineering upgrades including a more powerful engine and smoother driving performance. The FC was the first model to incorporate front turning indicators.
  • Intergenerational loyalty to the brand is a feature of this advertisement – Fisher cites his father’s possession of a Holden as one of his reasons for choosing the car. By the 1960s the children of Holden’s initial loyal customer base were buying cars. The generation had grown up with Holdens, and family tradition was a strong factor in their purchasing choices.
  • In 1962, when this advertisement was made, Holden had been the market leader in Australia for 15 years. Also in that year, Holden reached a significant production milestone with the release of the millionth Holden – a Euroa Gold EJ Premier sedan. The EJ was totally different in appearance from the FC model and had a lower, wider, more streamlined body as well as improved brakes, suspension and transmission.
  • Holden’s relationship with Australian Rules football was an example of the way in which popular cultural or social events such as sport are used by advertisers to promote their products. Australian Rules is a particularly popular sporting code in Australia’s southern states and Holden’s assembly plant and testing grounds in Victoria planted part of its target audience firmly within this demographic.