Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Spring 2006 Ready, Steady, Go: Toyota's Advertising in America, 1958-1979 Rebecca Hope Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Recommended Citation Smith, Rebecca Hope, "Ready, Steady, Go: Toyota's Advertising in America, 1958-1979" (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 593. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/593 This thesis (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 READY, STEADY, GO: TOYOTA’S ADVERTISING IN AMERICA, 1958-1979. by REBECCA HOPE SMITH (Under the Direction of Craig Roell) ABSTRACT The objective of this thesis is to determine the marketing strategy of Toyota Motor Corporation in America and place these strategies into their historical context. The advertisements will ultimately tie in with trends inside the United States, as well as the development of the company as an international business. INDEX WORDS: Advertising, automobiles, Toyota. 2 READY, STEADY, GO: TOYOTA’S ADVERTISING IN AMERICA, 1958-1979. by REBECCA HOPE SMITH MA, Georgia Southern University, 2000 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF HISTORY STATESBORO, GEORGIA 2006 3 © 2006 Rebecca Hope Smith All Rights Reserved 4 READY, STEADY, GO: TOYOTA’S ADVERTISING IN AMERICA, 1958-1979. by REBECCA HOPE SMITH Major Professor: Dr. Craig Roell Committee: Dr. Paul Rodell Dr. Charles Thomas Electronic Version Approved: May 2006. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to Dr. Craig Roell for his continued guidance and input as I developed and researched this topic. Not only has he provided insight into the world of advertising, but he patiently aided my development and growth as a writer. Without his sustained help, this thesis may very well have stalled. He spent countless hours reading and editing, as well as pointing me in the right directions. Dr. Paul Rodell and Dr. Charles Thomas, both members of my committee, also provided a number of suggestions, advice, and encouragement. A decent portion of this thesis would not be complete without the help of my advisor and my committee. Second I want to thank Michael Foertsch of the Toyota Owner’s and Restorer’s Club for pointing me in a number of helpful directions. Amy Lucadamo at the Toyota Motor Sales Archives provided a number of documents and advertisements, free of charge, to give me a jump-start in my research. Finally, to my fellow graduate students and friends, I give special thanks. Without their continued support and reassurance, I may have never finished. Special thanks goes to Mary Kearns, Pamella Card and Melinda Ricker for not only listening to me gripe and complain, but offering advice and being there with comforting words when needed. Without the help of my friends I most certainly would have declared this task impossible and given up hope. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TOYOTA MOTOR COMPANY ..................20 Toyota’s Founder, Sakichi Toyoda .............................................................21 First automobiles .........................................................................................23 Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. ...............................................................................25 Post-War Reconstruction.............................................................................28 Rebuilding and Recovery ............................................................................32 Push to the United States.............................................................................37 The Tumultuous Seventies ..........................................................................41 Conclusions .................................................................................................44 2 READY: INTRODUCING TOYOTA TO AMERICA...................................47 Toyota Vehicles...........................................................................................48 Competitor Vehicles....................................................................................49 Ralph Nader and Safety...............................................................................53 Toyota’s Specific Advertisement Strategies ...............................................57 Toyota’s Print Advertisements....................................................................59 Competitor Print Advertisements................................................................62 Conclusions .................................................................................................65 3 STEADY: TOYOTA’S EXPANSION INTO THE AMERICAN MARKET 66 7 Toyota Vehicles...........................................................................................67 Competitor Vehicles....................................................................................69 Ralph Nader and the Continued Campaign for Safety ................................74 Protecting the Environment.........................................................................76 The First Oil Crisis......................................................................................79 Toyota’s Specific Advertisement Strategies ...............................................83 Toyota’s Print Advertisements....................................................................85 Competitor Print Advertisements................................................................88 Conclusions .................................................................................................90 4 GO: TOYOTA’S CONTINUED CLIMB TO THE TOP................................92 Toyota’s Vehicles........................................................................................93 Competitor Vehicles....................................................................................96 Protecting the Environment.......................................................................103 Other Government Measures.....................................................................104 The Continued Struggle with Oil ..............................................................106 Toyota’s Print Advertisements and Marketing Strategies.........................110 Competitor Print Advertisements..............................................................113 Conclusions ...............................................................................................116 EPILOGUE......................................................................................................................117 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................124 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................127 A Toyoda Family Tree.......................................................................................127 B Toyota’s Advertising Slogans........................................................................128 8 INTRODUCTION Some fifty years ago, it was inconceivable for most Americans to imagine owning a Japanese vehicle, for at that time, Americans considered Japanese products to be cheap and not to their standards. In 1958 Albert E. Birt, the president of Manhattan’s Hambro Automotive Corporation believed that the import sales would never top 300,000.1 In 2004, Toyota sold over 400,000 Camry models alone, a far cry from the president’s estimate of 300,000. Today, it is hard to imagine the mindset of those people, especially with the proliferation of Japanese products in most households, small appliances and consumer electronics such as televisions, VCRs, DVD players, stereos, and of course automobiles. Japanese vehicles often outsell American vehicles, and many out perform them as well. What caused this change in the industry? How did the Japanese manufacturing and advertising influence the market? How much of a role did the oil crises of the 1970s play in this change? These questions are applicable to all Japanese automobile companies, including the Toyota Motor Company. As a case study, it is interesting to follow the development of Toyota to draw these conclusions. How did Toyota make the transition from a manufacturer of weaving machinery to producing automobiles? What conditions led to Toyota becoming the world’s second largest manufacturer, producing more than 5.5 million vehicles each year?2 How did their products become so valuable and desirable that they frequently appear on the list of cars most often stolen?3 1 Time, March 31, 1958, p. 76 2 Information found at the Toyota Motor Corporation’s Website, at http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/history The figures refer to both unit and net sales. 3 For 2002, National Insurance Crime Bureau states that the Toyota Camry is the most frequently