Peanuts as Pitchmen: Ford Motor Company

The comic strip Peanuts is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. To note this occasion, and to satiate my fixation with the strip and its characters, I'll be highlighting them here and there throughout the year. Then again, I've highlighted them many times before, so I guess I'm not doing anything different.

This week, I'm spotlighting their use in commercials and advertisements. They've been used to sell many products and services since their inception, but their first major campaign was with the Ford Motor Company. In fact, it was for Ford that the Peanuts gang was first animated, long before their first TV special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Here are some examples.

This first commercial may be the first animation of them period. By the way, those are chocolate cigars, not real ones.



Hey, this lengthy commercial is narrated by voice-over legend Paul Frees!



Here, Charlie Brown and Linus open an episode of the Tennessee Ernie Ford Show, sponsored by Ford.



This time, Charlie Brown gets an assist from Schroeder.



Don't sell advertising on a kite flown by Charlie Brown.



This may be the last commercial the Peanuts gang did with Ford, in 1964.



If you enjoyed these, stay tuned, as I'll be presenting more "Peanuts and Pitchmen" posts throught the week. Thanks!