Today marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic Ford Mustang. Originally introduced in 1964, the Ford Mustang broke all previous company records with unprecedented demand. With over 4 million people visiting showrooms, and 22,000 cars ordered on the first day it was available to the public, the Mustang was (and still is) one of the most popular cars in the world. To mark the Mustang’s anniversary, we’ve included both a retro TV spot and print ad.

This was the very first TV ad for the Ford Mustang:

1964 print ad:

While these ads were enough to spark customer interest, the Ford Motor Company decided to take their advertising to new heights… to the top of the Empire State Building! In 1965, the Mustang made its way up to the 86th floor of the iconic landmark for the World’s Fair. The vehicle was cut into pieces, taken up through the elevator, and re-assembled on the observatory deck. The car remained outside on the observatory deck for the day, and was later taken apart and reassembled indoors for visitors to admire until March of 1966.

Yesterday, the Ford Motor Company recreated this stunt. Although it seems like a great way to celebrate the anniversary of the car, Ford’s marketing stunt was poorly executed. In 1965, no one had ever put a car on a building that high. By placing a car on the Empire State building, the company shocked the country and received a lot of great publicity. This time… not so much.

Ford Motor Company released very little information about this stunt. It doesn’t appear as if Ford was trying to keep this a secret, because there was some news coverage on the story, along with some information on the company’s corporate website. The company released this short (and unenthusiastic) article, but unless you religiously check their website (which I would guess the average person does not), you probably didn’t hear about it. It took a lot of time, effort, and money for Ford to get the car assembled on the Empire State Building, and because of underwhelming advertising efforts, the company did not make the most out of this occasion.

I made the trip last night to check out the Mustang. Outside of the Empire State Building, there was no sign that the car was even there, or that Ford had anything to do with it. I actually had to ask to make sure it was up there. In the various lines that I had to wait in, there was no information about the Mustang (I was expecting there to be videos, pictures and memorabilia everywhere). After waiting for close to 3 hours, I finally made my way to the 86th floor to see the car. There’s no denying that it was incredibly awesome to see the Mustang so high above the city, with the skyline of New York clearly visible behind it. On our way out, there were two people wearing Ford t-shirts who thanked us for coming to see the Mustang, and extended an invitation to attend an auto show later in the week where the car would be featured. Other than that, there was no indication that Ford was even a part of the whole stunt.

Ford really missed out on a fantastic opportunity to generate a big buzz. It would have been so simple to run a few ads on the Subway system, or in Times Square, to let everyone know what they were doing. And while the hype started building on social media a few weeks prior to the event, it was the Empire State Building’s social accounts carrying much of the online conversation. Maybe for the centennial in 2064, Ford will get it right. We’ll have to wait to find out!