I have little doubt that TV commercials have always been looked upon as several steps below an art form. Today's commercials often seem to me to be an assault upon the senses – fast, loud, and not entertaining.
Today's featured commercial from 1960 gives us a much more harmonious experience. It is certainly a contrast in style and function to what I often see today. It isn't the highest resolution, and it is in black and while (like most TVs were in that time). But for whatever reason, I find it a fascinating short film that catches my fancy.
The leadership question that this raises for me is this: if a retro commercial from 1960 with less than 2,000 views on YouTube can give us a fun feeling even today, what other cozy niche creations from the past might inspire us to use a different way to get our point across to our teams or our customers?
A technical note: there is really some pretty slick production work going on here that you might not notice at first. Check out the single shot that goes from 0:31 to 1:37. That's not Adobe Premiere that they are using to put that together; that is some well-planned work with a camera on a dolly. Pretty cool.