See the USA in Your Chevrolet

Last updated
Dinah Shore singing "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet" in a television advertisement for the 1959 Chevrolet Impala. Dinah in Chevy.jpeg
Dinah Shore singing "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet" in a television advertisement for the 1959 Chevrolet Impala.

"See The USA In Your Chevrolet" is a commercial jingle from c. 1949, with lyrics and music by Leo Corday [1] and Leon Carr [2] of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). It was written for the Chevrolet Division of General Motors. [3]

Contents

The jingle was sung on the televsion program Inside U.S.A. with Chevrolet by real-life husband-wife duo, Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy. [3] It became associated with Dinah Shore through Chevrolet's decade-long sponsorship of her television shows. Shore sang the song after 1952, [3] and it became a signature song of hers. Later the song was also sung by Pat Boone on his Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom (ABC) from 1957 through 1960.

In the mid-1960s, Chevrolet was one of the sponsors for the Los Angeles Dodgers' radio coverage. When the Dodgers broadcast games on television, Chevrolet commercials were aired in which the song was sung by John Roseboro and Don Drysdale of the Dodgers. [4] Upon seeing the commercials, Dodgers' announcer Jerry Doggett joked that Roseboro's and Drysdale's singing career "was destined to go absolutely nowhere."[ This quote needs a citation ]

Adaptations

Over the years, this song has also been customized by local Chevrolet dealerships, incorporating the dealer name, brands and/or area they service. One example can be found in Honolulu, Hawaii, where The JN Automotive Group used the Dinah Shore commercial footage in a 2011 TV commercial that featured their customers singing the song.

Automotive dealership Ellis Brooks Chevrolet (now Ellis Brooks Auto Center) in San Francisco, California adapted the song into "See Ellis Brooks Today for Your Chevrolet". The radio and television advertisement became iconic throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. [5] [6]

On February 6, 2011, during Fox's coverage of Super Bowl XLV, the cast of Glee did a cross-promotion with Chevrolet which involved Sue Sylvester enticing the glee club to do a commercial in which they would receive a Chevrolet Cruze if they participated, knowing that doing so would disqualify the New Directions from competing in any contests. Although the song was used in a dream sequence that involved a big budget production number, the group (in reality) declined Sue's bribe upon Rachel Berry's realization of Sue's ulterior motive, which had previously caused trouble for the Glee club in a season 1 episode, "Mattress". [7] Chevrolet ran several Super Bowl advertisements, one of which was this 30-second ad. [8] The ad served as a teaser for a 2-minute and 20 second ad featuring the Glee cast as singers and dancers during a Lea Michele-led rendition of "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" that aired during the Super Bowl lead-out program, which was "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" episode of Glee. A 60-second version of the ad was aired along with movie trailers at nationwide movie theaters. The commercial was also to promote the 2011 Glee Live! In Concert! tour. The "See the USA" ad was directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Russell Carpenter was the director of photography. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevrolet</span> American automobile division of General Motors

Chevrolet, colloquially referred to as Chevy, is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinah Shore</span> American singer and actress (1916–1994)

Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era. She achieved even greater success a decade later in television, mainly as the host of a series of variety programs for the Chevrolet automobile company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Roseboro</span> American baseball player (1933–2002)

John Junior Roseboro was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1957 until 1970, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A four-time All-Star player, Roseboro is considered one of the best defensive catchers of the 1960s, winning two Gold Glove Awards. He was the Dodgers' starting catcher in four World Series with the Dodgers winning three of those.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevrolet SSR</span> Motor vehicle

The Chevrolet SSR is a retro-styled retractable hardtop convertible pickup truck manufactured by Chevrolet between 2003 and 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SAIC-GM-Wuling</span> Chinese automobile manufacturer and joint venture

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile is a joint venture between SAIC Motor, General Motors, and Guangxi Auto. Based in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in southwestern China, it makes commercial and consumer vehicles sold in China under the Wuling and Baojun marques, respectively.

"It's De-Lovely" is one of Cole Porter's hit songs, originally appearing in his 1936 musical, Red Hot and Blue. It was introduced by Ethel Merman and Bob Hope. The song was later used in the musical Anything Goes, first appearing in the 1956 film version ; in the 1962 revival where it was sung by Hal Linden and Barbara Lang, and in the 2004 biographical film De-Lovely, where it was performed by Robbie Williams.

Motorcars first arrived in Mexico City in 1903. Since then, several vehicle brands have been especially successful. A number of manufacturers make vehicles in Mexico, and many brands have been and continue to be available.

The Dinah Shore Show is an American variety show which was broadcast by NBC from November 1951 to July 1957, sponsored by General Motors' Chevrolet division. For most of the program's run, it aired from 7:30 to 7:45 Eastern Time on Tuesday and Thursday nights, rounding out the time slot which featured the network's regular evening newscast, which, like all such programs of the era, was then only 15 minutes in length.

<i>The Dinah Shore Chevy Show</i> 1956 American TV series or program

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to May 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet", which continued to be used in Chevrolet advertising for several more years after the cancellation of the show.

Campbell Ewald is an advertising and marketing communications agency headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, with offices in Los Angeles and New York. Campbell Ewald is part of advertising company Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevrolet Volt</span> Range extended electric automobile (2010–2019)

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid and extended-range electric vehicle car that was manufactured by General Motors, and also marketed in rebadged variants as the Holden Volt in Australia and New Zealand and the Buick Velite 5 in China, and with a different fascia as the Vauxhall Ampera in the United Kingdom and as the Opel Ampera in the remainder of Europe. Volt production ended in February 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cars.com</span> Automotive classified website focused on the United States

Cars.com is an automotive classified website focused on the United States that launched in June 1998 and now is the second largest automotive classified site. Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sue Sylvester Shuffle</span> 11th episode of the 2nd season of Glee

"The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the thirty-third episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Brad Falchuk, and was broadcast immediately following Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011 on Fox. In the episode, an effort to dispel student rivalry forces the McKinley High football team and glee club to unite. When cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester withdraws her squad from the halftime show of a championship football game, the disparate groups must come together to perform a routine and win the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevrolet Aveo</span> Subcompact car

The Chevrolet Aveo is a five-passenger, front-drive subcompact car (B-segment) marketed by General Motors (GM) since 2002 over two generations. Originally developed by South Korean manufacturer Daewoo Motors and marketed as the Daewoo Kalos, the takeover of Daewoo by GM to form GM Daewoo Auto & Technology (GMDAT) resulted in the car's marketing in 120 countries under seven brands — prominently as the Chevrolet Aveo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfonso Gomez-Rejon</span> American film and television director

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is an American film and television director. He made his directorial film debut with the slasher film The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014). He has since directed the coming of age film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), and the historical drama The Current War (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Needing/Getting</span> 2012 single by OK Go

"Needing/Getting" is a song by American rock band OK Go, from their 2010 album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. A music video, released in February 2012 as an advertisement for Super Bowl XLVI, features the band performing the song by driving a Chevy Sonic through a rally car course, striking musical instruments on the sides of the course with extensions from the car to create the music.

Autonet Mobile was a Santa Rosa, California based company that provided 4G in-vehicle telematics devices, and marketing and management software for automotive dealerships and aftermarket service providers. The company held several original equipment manufacturer agreements with the automotive manufacturers General Motors, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Subaru, and Volkswagen. In early 2011, it was estimated that there were 10,000 Autonet Mobile users in the United States. As of 2009, the Autonet Mobile routers were primarily available as a factory installed product that required activation, although they were also available as an aftermarket product through auto dealerships and retailers as well as online retailers like Amazon.com.

Mofilm Ltd is a UK-based content sourcing company, which allows users to produce video and photographic content for various brands and social causes. The company was co-founded by Jeffrey Merrihue. Jon Landau is the Chairman of the MOFILM Advisory board.

Ellis Brooks Auto Center is an automobile dealership in San Francisco, California. It is best known for its commercials, featuring an adaptation of See the USA in Your Chevrolet. Originally Ellis Brooks Chevrolet, the company later became "Auto Center" after it began marketing other brands of automobile. The company is now located at 1565 Bush Street, but the original Ellis Brooks sign is still used. The company was founded in 1939.

References

  1. Leo Corday. IMDb.
  2. Leon Carr. IMDb.
  3. 1 2 3 "Inside U. S. A. (with Chevrolet)". The Media Management Group. 2003. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  4. "On this day... The Dinah Shore Chevy Show premieres". April 20, 2011. Later, the theme song would be "reinterpreted" by baseball greats Johnny Roseboro and Don Drysdale who recorded commercials aired during televised LA Dodgers games. (FYI, reviews -- not so good...)
  5. Ken Garcia, "Those Merry Oldsmobile Days Waning / Demise of Auto Row has been tip-off", San Francisco Chronicle , January 16, 2001.
  6. Lindsay Chappell, "How Roger Penske wooed and won Frisco's grande dame of auto retailing and revived a 7-story downtown jewel", Automotive News , June 18, 2012.
  7. "Magical Monday Moments: See the USA in Your Chevrolet".
  8. "2011 USA TODAY Super Bowl Ad Meter". USA Today . 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  9. "Chevy/Glee Super Bowl ad spot 2011". Quantel. 2011-03-01. Retrieved 2011-12-11.