Promotional Vehicles Part 2: Cars for Advertising Food Products

As we saw in last week's introduction, which you can find here Promotional Vehicles: Marketing On Wheels, promotional vehicles have been widely used in the USA and Europe to advertise the most diverse products. In this episode we are going to present the most extravagant vehicles created for food sponsorship of all kinds. One of the earliest examples is certainly that of Milwaukee's Luick Dairy, a company that during the 1930s had an unknown number of vehicles built in the likeness of the milk bottle it marketed. It is unclear whether they were used more for deliveries or for promotional purposes, although a visible hatch in the rear of the truck indicates the possibility of the former. Clear and strong, however the message.

The Luick Dairy of Milwaukee had vehicles built in the 1930s in the shape of the milk bottle it marketed.

In Europe, this type of promotional vehicle took off in the post-war period, especially on the occasion of the Giro d'Italia cycling race that started in 1946. Television was not yet widespread in Italy, in fact regular service did not begin until 1954, and what better occasion could there be than to take advantage of a caravan travelling between major cities through wings of crowds awaiting the arrival of the cyclists? So the Simmenthal canned meat brand decided to outfit Fiat 1100s with the likeness of their own canned meat packages and even a beef snout on the roof.

In the post-war period, promotional vehicles also became popular in Europe, such as the Fiat 1100 modified to advertise Simmenthal canned meat.

To stay on the subject of livestock farms, another very funny vehicle is the one created by the animal feed company Zoovit on a Fiat 600 base, where a piglet is in the place of the rear compartment. What all these cars have in common is great imagination, but above all the craftsmanship of the coachbuilders to achieve a truly incredible final effect. One can imagine the amazement of the youngest children at seeing them!

Cute creation based on a Fiat 600 to promote Zoovit animal feed, with a piglet at the back.

Animals are a constant in this type of promotion and the famous Gelateria De Pellegrin in Lignano Pineta was no exception. First he had a Fiat Topolino modified and then, given its success, a BMW Isetta, which took on the appearance of a penguin in the cover image. The German lettering was designed for an international message given their large German clientele. The BMW Isetta leads one to suspect that the ice-cream parlour also had branches in Germany.

The Gelateria De Pellegrin in Legnano identified the penguin as a message to promote the business, first by modifying a Fiat Topolino and later a BMW Isetta.

Curious and cute is the Pea Car built especially for a commercial promoting Birds Eye Peas. Fibreglass body panels, Volkswagen components reminiscent of a miniature transporter and a Honda engine that allows the car to propel itself at almost 100 km/h are the features of this miniature car in the shape of a round green vegetable. Let's not speculate about stability...

The Pea Car made for the Birds Eye Peas commercial. A mini-car that certainly knows how to attract attention.

In the recent past, one of the most frequently used cars for this type of promotion was the Volkswagen New Beetle. To sponsor McCain's Chips, a leading company in the sector, it was modified in the rear with the adoption of a giant packet just like the one that can still be found in the frozen food aisle of any supermarket today.

The Volkswagen New Beetle was featured in the Tour de France cycling race to promote McCain's Chips.