Newsweek

America's 50-Year Love Affair With the Camaro

From its days as Chevy's answer to the Mustang to its social media-heavy presence today, the Camaro has thrilled drivers for a half-century.
The 1980 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
01_06_Camaro_04

The Camaro was born out of a volcano. We know this because 50 years ago, in the muscle car's very first TV commercial, it rose from a caldera amid fountains of fire and a molten lake of lava. Fans of the sporty Chevy still debate how many martinis Don Draper harmed while writing copy for that ad.

In the half-century since the American public first blew its stack over the Camaro, the love affair has gone from hot to cold to hashtag-friendly. There are no TV commercials for Camaros anymore. The Chevy marketing team finds its trucks and midsized vehicles like the Malibu do better in TV spots. Instead, the brand focuses marketing for Camaro on the car’s social media presence. In 2013, Camaro’s image-heavy Facebook page had the highest user engagement stats of any automotive brand. By 2015, scammers were taking full advantage of its likability, and sites like Hoax-Slayer and Snopes were debunking fake Camaro giveaway posts.

A Google search for “ ” yields more than video of the exchange has been viewed nearly 900,000 times. No wonder the 2017 Camaro features its own Wi-Fi network.

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