A lyric synonymous with Australian culture, Holden came up with one of the catchiest advertising jingles ever written back in the 1970s.
“We love football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars,” goes the famous lyric which was set to a tune so catchy you’re probably humming along to it right now.
However, despite how Aussie these words may seem, the ad is anything but. The Australian version might be the best-known, but the jingle actually traces its roots back to the US and Holden’s parent company, General Motors.
The premise of the commercial and the tune it’s set to is the same, but the original lyrics were actually about America’s greatest darlings: “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.”
Indeed, this jingle was so prolific that GM created a radio version of it for South Africa, proclaiming, “we love braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies and Chevrolet”. The tune is still catchy, but this version doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
As a side note, this jingle wasn’t the only thing shared between Holden and Chevrolet South Africa at the time, as the Holden Statesman was being reproduced as the Chevrolet Constantia for their market.
The ad might not be as True Blue as it proclaims itself to be, but there’s no denying it helped solidify Holden’s standing as Australia’s own car company – even if it was feasting on some General Motors leftovers.
