John Deere’s Have The Soft Touch
Power steering was invented in 1926 by Francis W. Davis, and first installed in a commercially available car in 1951. Shortly thereafter John Deere quickly developed their own power steering system and installed it in their Model 50, 60 and 70. John Deere first advertised this fact in October, 1954 with the caption “Makes Driving a Soft Touch” next to a picture of a kitten very easily steering the wheel. This was a huge step for agricultural business’ everywhere. As up to this point you had to be very strong to drive the tractor doing actual field work. At this point in history many farms were small family run farms, meaning that many family members could not do the field work putting a lot of pressure on those members of the family that could. The addition of the power steering feature really opened up the agricultural business and allowed for the modern machines that we have today. The 1950s ad for John Deere that started it all is very clever and convincing in the desired message of “buy these John Deere tractors” through the use of logos, ethos and pathos techniques.
While the John Deere Company does use all three techniques in this ad they mainly focus on logos. The whole ad focuses on how much easier it is to drive the tractor and what a difference it makes on your muscles as well as the time savings. The very first object you notice when looking at the ad is thee kitten driving the tractor and the first thing anyone would think after seeing this is “that must be so easy to drive and if it is easy to drive than it will make my job enormously easier”. The first line of the ad even reads “every time you take the wheel, tireless hydraulic muscles save you time and work”. This one line alone makes the logical part of your brain start to pay attention and think of all the things you could so with the time and work savings. It also cleverly describes the power steering system as tireless muscles implying that the system will always work so that you don’t have to.
The credibility or ethos of the ad and product is the John Deere name itself. Since the company was first established it has been considered a world leader and expert on all kinds of agricultural equipment and machinery. They are so confident in their product that they even say right in the ad that they are willing to demonstrate not only the power steering, but also other “modern” features of the tractors. As well as send free literature on the Model 50, 60 and 70 tractors. John Deere is very confident in the quality and expertise of their product and that confidence is clearly displayed throughout the ad. The ad is also presented in a neat and precise way subconsciously reinforcing the perception of quality providing you with more confidence in the level of quality that they show their products as well.
Granted the pathos is not blatantly obvious at first glance. This ad does have subtle hints that play with your emotions. The first of which is the man on the tractor. He seems to be driving with relative ease and getting a lot accomplished. Two things that anyone who is working in a field loves, and makes you feeling some longing or curiosity in wanting to see the product. The second thing you notice is that the tractor is clearly a new tractor. As it has no dirt, dust or ware on it and just as most people get excited about the idea of a new modern car so do farmers with the idea of new modern equipment.
The power steering feature was a big selling feature for John Deere in 1954 and 1955 although it would never have been possible if it wasn’t for clever and effective ads such as this one. Since no product or service can be sold if it is not known about; this ad effectively got the word out there about these tractors through the use of logos, ethos and pathos. Allowing John Deer to produce and sell a total of 132,874 Model 50, 60 and 70 tractors.
This Ad can be viewed at http://www.vintageadsandstuff.com/viewfarmtractor22.jpeg