Advertising is always one of the best reflections of the evolution of society and the motorcyclist is no stranger to it. Going over how motorcycles have been advertised for almost a century provokes, with today’s vision, sometimes a smile and sometimes a certain discomfort, but always a very correct vision of how this phenomenon called “motorcycle” was experienced in over nearly a century. From the discovery to the general public of the new and strange invention at the beginning, to the consolidation of the motorcycle as a long-awaited consumer good today.
We stop at the 90s because advertising from the 21st century is already on everyone’s mind and also needs a certain perspective -which we probably still lack- to be commented on.
If we review what experts call the “visual memory” of motorcycling history, we will see that motorcycle advertising has gone through very clear and different phases in parallel to the evolution of the industry itself.
From the origins to warmongering
In the very first phase, what needs to be advertised is the bike itself; that extravagant and still unknown vehicle that little by little is making its way until it acquires presence and benefits. Advertising at that time therefore focused on showing a dynamic image of the motorcycle and making known brands that were still unknown to the vast majority. Graphically, the ads are little more than an image of the motorcycle and the name of the manufacturer along with some technical data.
From the beginning of the 20th century until the beginning of the First World War, what must be made known is basically the motorcycle as a vehicle in itself.
With the outbreak of the First World War, the motorcycle also travels to the trenches and advertisers immediately focus on it, showing it either as a vehicle at the service of victory, or reminding potential buyers that the brand has contributed to it. The motorcycle is already a familiar machine; English, French, German and Americans have seen in the news thousands of their young people going to the front mounted on one of them.
The heroic soldiers are the protagonists of the graphic advertisements, the adventurous image of the motorcycle is consolidated as a vehicle that can do anything and the competition between brands begins to play the card of patriotism as a sales argument. In the Second World War, two decades later, essentially the same thing will happen and the motorcycle will once again occupy the covers of magazines on both the Allied and the Axis sides, although by then the motorcycle is already a mass phenomenon and the brands are already are known.
the roaring 20s
At the end of the First World War, the Roaring Twenties arrive and optimism takes over a society fascinated by technological advances, aviation, motor racing, motorcycles… and in general anything that suggests modernity and joy.
The advertisements of the time show just that and, curiously enough, many of them are starring women, either alone or in a couple, but with visibility equal to that of men.
During the years of the war and with men on the battlefields, women have begun to reclaim their role and occupy roles that were previously more restricted to them. They want to play sports, they want to drive… also motorbikes and they want to be independent far from the previous corsets and advertising is perfectly aware of this.
Until the 1930s, this message will be maintained that the couple that rides a motorcycle together, stays together.
The motorcycle is presented as the ideal companion for free time and the idealized images of racing drivers are also beginning to be used as a claim. Soon things will change and the only bikes that will be seen in the photographs again will be those of the Wermacht marching through Europe.
The brands that participate in the war, both on one side and the other, return again to the military aesthetic.
The second post-war
Unlike the First Great War -which was a carnage but when it ended it gave rise, paradoxically, to an optimistic society- the Second has turned Europe into hell and nobody is here for parties. The motorcycle is presented again as a reconstruction vehicle, in the sense of showing it as an economical and accessible resource. It returns to insist on aspects such as consumption and reliability; the motorcycle has ceased to be a fun vehicle to become a means of survival. We see again a lot of black and white and sobriety.
The motorcycle has become the great utility and the messages emphasize this aspect of functionality and toughness.
Of course, in Italy, advertising for Vespa -one of the brands that since 1946 revitalizes the depressed sector- begins to go down this road and it will not be until the mid-50s, when the effects of the war begin to be left behind and starts the recovery that the announcements will take on a more optimistic tone. At the same time, sporting successes are once again highlighted as brand value and advertisements take on a more colorful and festive tone.
The roaring sixties and seventies
In the late 1950s and virtually all of the 1960s, advertising became Americanized. It is the golden stage of the great movie stars, of Rock & Roll, of cola drinks, of toupees… and of the motorcycle that has definitively become a symbol of rebellion. The European industry of the sector has been reborn and the brands of the Old Continent, in addition to dominating the market, are trends and fashion.
It is a happy stage, of economic expansion and social changes.
On the one hand, the stereotype of the ideal couple who enjoys motorcycles continues to function, but each time we begin to see more transgressive images.
At the end of the 1960s, and especially in European brands, the influence of the Beat aesthetic and the so-called “Swinging London” -miniskirt girls, colorful dresses and casual poses in the style of Twiggy, the reference model- dominates the advertising landscape … and opens the door to the hippie vibe that will also have its reflection in seventies advertising.
In general it is a decade of informal postures on the motorcycle, showing off a lot of feminine legs, little biker epic and a lot of aesthetics. The motorcycle is presented as a fashion item in which what matters least is its performance and what matters most is the great seducer that it makes you.
Motorcycles are for fun, so advertising references to sporting successes are extremely rare.
At the beginning of the 70s, the great landing of Japanese brands in the Old Continent also took place. Their bikes are more popular and cheaper; anyone can drive one if they wish and attention must be drawn to the new offer with surreal, humorous, traditional messages… so their ads go this way.
The fast 80’s
The sexual revolution of the late 1970s, the feminist movements that have claimed not only the new role of women but also their own sexuality and their bodies have an effect on the majority of 1980s advertising.
There is a real frenzy of using models with little clothing and suggestive poses that today is even rude but must be understood in the context of a society that was freeing itself from many taboos and for which a more or less naked body was still provocative. In our country we were not oblivious to this phenomenon either, with the so-called “uncover cinema”. Something similar happened in motorcycle advertising; It did not matter if helmets, motorcycles, jackets or tires were advertised… it was essential that a beautiful model with little clothing pose next to it.
There was another factor that explained this somewhat absurd current and that is that the motorcycle was considered, at that time, “a thing for men”.
Everyone already had a car, the motorcycle had completely lost its character as a family vehicle and was only seen as a machine that generated high sensations and high performance. It was logical, therefore, that from this perspective, advertising aimed at the most coarse masculinity.
It is true, in honor of the truth, that this was a more Mediterranean phenomenon -Italy was the epitome of sexist advertisements and to a lesser extent also France and Spain although ours were much more modest, we must admit- because in parallel it also grew advertising based on sports successes. The Japanese brands invested a fortune in competition and wanted it to be known, at the same time that interest in racing grew globally, especially for the Dakar -which at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s lived its moment of maximum splendor .
It is a decade in which everything happens very quickly; in which in a short time you go from ballads to “acid house” and from family comedies to Stallone’s cinema. The motorcycle must diversify as much as new tastes and a very disperse advertising period begins in which we can see that digital is already knocking at the door while other brands resort to more conservative styles.
The Carefree 90’s
We leave behind the sexist and crazy decade of the eighties and we see how advertising once again emphasizes what the motorcycle has become: a lifestyle. As the mentality of society changes about the values that motorcycling should contribute, so does its advertising. Excessive power or maximum speeds are no longer the main argument to focus on fun, free time, sensations and even elegance.
In the case of scooter advertising, the messages that claim urban culture and being fashionable are exploited. Vespa ads become a benchmark in this regard, playing the face of Italian design.
According to the dominant aesthetics of the decade, the images go from minimalist to colorful or comic but always underlying the idea of fashion and style.
At that time there are not too many concerns about the price of gasoline or sustainability, so -curiously- there is hardly any talk of consumption or savings. Everything is focused on the possibilities of fun that a motorcycle provides you. Messages based on sports feats are also the protagonists again.
As interest in the environment grows and the economic crisis hits families, advertisements begin to speak of sustainability and payment facilities. The motorcycle is no longer, far from it, a whim for the rich. The message is totally contrary; anyone can have one if they really want to because it has never been easier.
