A post from Hogan’s Alley editor Tom Heintjes reminded me of something that I meant to discuss. As many of you know, in the 1960s, Ford licensed the Peanuts characters to advertise their affordable family car, the Falcon. But I’ve seen some people say that the characters advertised only the Falcon, and that’s not true. Folks who read my book The Peanuts Collection saw a poster that promoted the 1965 Mustang, ’65 being the last year of the Peanuts license. But that, too, is not all.
In late 1964, Ford launched a rental program, the “Ford Rent-A-Car System”. During 1965, they ran several newspaper ads featuring the Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and even Pig-Pen.
(Click to enlarge)
Added later: One thing to think about is how this campaign, focused largely on holidays and events, ended with Thanksgiving ’65… the month before A Charlie Brown Christmas would permanently link holidays and Peanuts in people’s minds.
