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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhat very famous product in 1957 was promoted with a Drag queen?
For those who think Drag Queens were invented by a TV producer in the aughts. I give you one of my favorite pieces of trivia. A promotion by a major US company using a "female impersonator" in 1957.
Here is a report
And, because it was 1957, Ford decided to have two media previews, one for male reporters and one for their wives. In the former, the Edsel was driven around a stunt course as if it were in a Hollywood blockbuster at one point an Edsel almost flipped.
Gates mentions in his blog that the women's event, a fashion show, was one of his favorite passages in the story because the host was revealed to be a "female impersonator" (i.e. a man in drag), which was not only bizarre but, as Gates says, "would have been scandalous for a major American corporation in 1957.
Here is the link https://www.businessinsider.com/lessons-from-the-failure-of-the-ford-edsel-2015-9
and here is the product
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The Ford Edsel.
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,853 posts)On a very loosely related note, I watched an HBO series weeks ago about a transgender woman who tried to sell three-wheeled cars called the Dale back in the 70's. It's called "Lady And The Dale".
She was definitely a long-time fraudster, but the sex change was genuine and the 4-part series was fascinating to me.
Critics liked it too, causing a 100% rating for the series from them at Rotten Tomatoes. (The general audience rating is far lower, but that's not too surprising in this country.)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lady_and_the_dale/s01
And Tucker Carlson's father was one of the main reporters who finally revealed to the public that she used to be a man! It was like he was obsessed with it! Like father, like son!
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)surgery when she ran off with the cash. Probably made disguises easier.
Was a fun story in the auto press. Almost as much fun as DeLorean's coke bust.
Chipper Chat
(9,678 posts)Heard this on TV one night. Maybe Bob Hope.