by Davey Coombs
The List: 10 Excellent Advertisements Vol. I
Friday, December 9, 2011 | 4:40 PM
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The world of motocross has long been wallpapered with excellent advertisements that were sometimes better than the magazines they were in! The full-color spreads popped out like fireworks from the stapled, dog-eared black-and-white mags of yesteryear and just shouted, “Motocross is cool!” It's impossible to name a “10 best ever” because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.... So here's Volume 1 of The List of 10 Excellent Advertisements from yesteryear.
1.) YAMAHA: Of all the OEMs Yamaha might have the best catalog of advertisements over the years, and this one boasting the company's sweep of the 1978 AMA Supercross and Motocross titles betweem (from left to right) Rick Burgett, Bob Hannah and Broc Glover was loud in making a statement and brilliant in its simplicity.
2.) OAKLEY: Everyone knows that Oakley is one of the biggest sports companies in the world, and motocrossers should always be proud that Jim Jannard got his start selling MX and BMX grips in Southern California in the seventies. But the brand really hit its stride with these “Factory Pilot” ads that featured the likes of Johnny O'Mara and Mark Barnett posed like, well, fighter pilots, getting ready to do battle.
3.) MUSTANG MACH 1: Eric Johnson found this gem: Joel Robert, then the reigning 250cc World Motocross Champion, sitting on the hood of a Mustang Mach I, doing his best Steve McQueen, which would have been fine with the moto-loving McQueen—he was always trying to do his best Joel Robert!
4.) SUZUKI: This advertisement caused quite a stir back in the day, before Photoshop—or before desktop computers even! Did they use wires? Did they ghost-ride the bikes Deegan-style? Or did someone just do an amazing job with a razor blade, the film and some markers?
5.) MILLER TIME: This gem was on the back of every motocross and supercross program for a long time in America... And it would still resonate today!
6.) EVEL: It's hard to even explain how big of a name Evel Knievel was in the early 1970s. He was everywhere—TV, movies, Wide World of Sports, the toy shelves. With the exception of Muhammad Ali, he was probably the best know “athlete” in the world at the time, though he was more of a daredevil and an entertainer than a sportsman. Harley-Davidson/AMF used him to pitch their line of motorcycles (much wider then than it is now) with the awesome tagline “There's a little Evel in all of us.” Even Kelly Leak, the baddest kid in The Bad News Bears, rode a Harley like Evel.
7.) KAWASAKI: Years and years before Go-Pro cams became standard-issue on our riding gear, Kawasaki came out with this excellent ad that let potential customers see what it was like to be leading (by eight seconds, even!) on a Team Green motorcycle.
8.) THOR: Clothing companies like Fox Racing, JT Racing, AXO and O'Neal battled through the eighties and nineties for ad supremacy, and there's a Top 10 list for each of those companies' masterworks. This one from Thor spoke to the company's legacy with Roger DeCoster, and it gave readers a great way to look at the evolution of one of the oldest clothing brands in motocross gear.
9.) HONDA: Roger DeCoster is name-dropped again: He called the new CR125R “radically advanced” while Johnny O'Mara (pictured) just called it “radical.” How eighties is that?!
10.) YAMAHA McGRATH: For the last ad of this first installment, we return to Yamaha and one of their hilarious spoof ads of yesteryear, Jeremy McGrath channeling Austin Powers, at the height of both of their popularity. Oh yeah, baby!
Now let us know some of your favorites and the ones we should try to include in Volume 2 of the 10 Excellent Advertisements...
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Check out TEAM HONDA AT DAWN
in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
Forty years ago, Team Honda arrived on the American motocross circuit with a brand new motorcycle: the game-changing Elsinore CR250. Page 170.
Look for the verified symbol 
Impulse Studios
I always liked the Ryan Hughes ad with him chewing through the can with his jaw wired
would have to be the fox ad where carmichael is crying after winning his first outdoor title
Evel........"and son right here at the end of my pimp cane is where the chute came out....."
Let's go way back.. Bengt Aberg Champion spark plug ad - King of the Hill 1969..
Best ever = knee brace ad in the 80's with a guy's knee bending 90 degrees to the left. Not pretty, but compelling.
Fox ad in 1998. "What's your excuse?
Doug Henry lifting up his shirt and looking like he was sewed back together after his back operation. It looked like he was cut into 2 pieces!
I like the ad of Carmichael with a cereal box. Its some Kawasaki ad
My two favorites were the JT ad with the dalmatian biting Ron Lechien's leg, and the Fox ad, with Doug Henry changing his jersey to reveal his massive scar with the tagline, "What's stopping you?"
Also, the #7 kawasaki ad above brought back memories from when I was 14. I had that ad on my wall and used to look at it every day!
Seriously, no FMF ads? Coombs, you're fired.
Best Honda ad (8 pages): Do not try to catch this man yourself. (w/ mugshot & profile photos) Name: Bob Hannah AKA: Hurricane II, Buckwheat. Consider him armed. Has been charged with ATAC. Last seen on a Honda works bike. Most wanted list (photos of 1984 CR models)
Early-90's AXO ads (Stanton/Bradshaw)
Doug Henry Fox ad showing the scar from his back surgery.
Kawasaki ads from Cycle News for Jeff Ward battling Johnny O' for the 1984 125 title.
JT lineup of practically every top rider from the early 80's.
I could go on, but I'll leave some for other folks.
The Honda Trails ad with Whaley doing the head stand on the seat of the Honda Trails bike.
That got a lot of pub in Jr. High.
RyanD said it before I could, and that was the Honda ad with the Bob Hannah mug shot/arrest photo that read (Do not try to catch this man yourself) definetly one of the best. Also the '78 or '79 JT Racing ad with Hannah and Hekki Mikkola comes to mind. The Early 90 Yamaha ads with a bald headed Damon Bradshaw and Jeff Emig were good to and the western theme a few years later with Dowd, Henry,and Windham were cool as well.
Bell helmets. Got a 39 dollar head? Use a 39 dollar helmet...
Welcome to the age of 600 dollar helmets!
I forgot about the '81 HRP (Hannah Racing Products) ad with Bob Hannah dressed as Santa Claus standing next to #100 Yamaha. The ad reads..."Great Gift Ideas From Hannah Claus" I put this ad up on my fridge every Christmas and will do so again this x-mas.
Anyone know why the Y on Johnny O's helmet is black?
Maybe just lighting on the Y...
My favorite is Jeremy McGrath and Jimmy Button did a MIB ( Men in Blue ) ad that looks like a cover from a movie box. Button was holding a exhaust pipe and MC was holding a front end shock like they were guns. Great thought and real interesting. So much I even read all the little names on the bottom... and you know you dont do that on movie covers!
"Anyone know why the Y on Johnny O's helmet is black?"
More then likely its because of the shadowing tricks in photoshop on the right side of the photo..
My fav was the Moto-X Fox ad with the team riders photo with a holy man holding a bible in the pic too..Classic ..
That Kawi add was neat. I bought an 85 YZ250 instead, which was 250 of the year and earned me many holeshots & B class trophies. But that add almost had me riding green.
Those are classics,keep them coming.I had one of those 85 KX's and got some holeshots and B thophies too.good times (2damnold I wonder if we raced each other,D11?)
LOL, OMG! I went to Vista Kawasaki twice, they were having a hard time getting in the 85's cause as you know, they were totally redesigned that year and sharp as heck. I stopped by Beechmont Yamaha & T-Bell had 2 pretty first year white & red YZ's.................he matched Vista's out the door price I had in writing. Bellamy made the sale lol. I ran #795 @ Dirt Country..........bet we did race.
I still have the old Dirt Rider factory Suzuki centerfold pic from '94 or '95 that had both 125E and 125W champs airing it out (you could tell it was 2 different pics mashed together) but I put it on my door back in the day and there hasn't been a reason to replace it. The bikes were identical except Ezra Lusk's front number plate was white and Damon Huffman's was yellow. It read 'You can't get much higher than first place'. I was never a Suzuki guy but it was a cool pic and if memory serves they haven't claimed both JV SX titles since? Henry's Fox poster was sweet, another cool Fox poster was Vuilleman on his factory YZ250 on a sweet sand shot, right arm pinned and left arm hangin off into the sand roost off of the front knobby. Unfortunately he had the knobby on the back instead of a paddle but it was a sweet poster back when he was a major threat for SX wins, I think '00 or '01?
The one showing a Yamaha 1000 cafe racer parked in the middle of a kitchen with the caption. AND SHE COOKS TOO.
JT Racing ad (or maybe it was a yamaha ad, I can't remember). Very cool photo with Hannah and Keith McCarty and their works bike with the caption..."Double Trouble".
Those were all great adds. Now lets see part 2. I remeber all so far.
DC, Looks like you used some of my pics. Sweet!
I always was inspired by the photo of Kenny Zahrt on the wall of death, with his leg out. - Not sure if it was an ad, for posters or T-shirts? - as a kid that
photo killed it! - anybody remember what that was for?
Small world,I lived 15 min. from dirt country back then,ran #7 in 250B.The B classes were big back then,I am still searching my memory for #795 but I am sure your in there smewhere.Also known Bellamy for a long time,fast rider and a good guy.Beechmont Yamaha has been well known for decades.
The JT Dalmatian ad. Iconic gear with an iconic rider -- and puppies. It doesn't get much better than that.
Sosa 15. That was one of the Hi-Torque posters that they offered in the back of DB and MXA.
Thanks rainmanx, it was too! - that was one of my favourite pics!
Cheers Bro.
If you wore the white JT boots I remember you well, yea, you owned me.
Yamaha have always had great ads: be it the Tombstone shoot or the Austin Powers one featured above.
I have fond memories of the Yamaha ad from '93, though, with Bradshaw and all the mechanics with shaved heads (well, bald caps), as the YZs from that year were my favourites.
I'd love to see that again... hint, hint!
I did have some white sinisalo boots around that time.I did have some good moments but broke my collarbone and elbow that year at DC so I don't think I owned anyone.Sounds like you had some good ones too.My buddy Billybob #9 on a KX probably owned us both he was always just a notch faster than me.I hated how he could just inch away from me no matter what I did.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/jeremy mcgrath jimmy button men in blue/33graphix/autographs/motocross/th_101_2281.jpg
motodog, I still have that one too! My favorite ad was one for MSR. it had a yamaha support rider (att he time) Brian Manley and he was being pulled across the page by a woman's arm, and the caption read "Motocrosser's get the chicks." I always dug that one.