Cadillac ads

1975 Cadillac El Dorado ad.

1926 Cadillac Silver Anniversary Salon ad.

Paige-Detroit announced its new six-cylinder Paige autos in the January 2, 1915, issue of the Saturday Evening Post magazine. In that same issue the Cadillac Motor Car Co. placed the adjacent ad with the title "The Penalty of Leadership".

In September of 1914, after previously standing behind its four-cylinder engine and stating that it had no intention of marketing a six-cylinder car, Cadillac made the stunning announcement of its eight-cylinder, "V-type" engine. After the passage of several months Cadillac, in the person of Theodore McManus, who wrote Cadillac's advertising, presumably felt an explanation was in order.

Ninety years later "The Penalty of Leadership" remains famous. Compared to ads from Paige-Detroit and other auto makers, it is plain, but this was typical of McManus's work for Cadillac during this period. His ads were packed with text and only occasionally even showed a car. This one's provocative title, however, is as stiking today as it must have been then. The ad makes no extravagant product claims but instead warns the potential Cadillac customer that he must be willing to endure the envy of others for being in the forefront. And, yes, we know Cadillac makes motor cars, but nowhere in it is the reader told what exactly Cadillac is selling, other than status.
Whatever impact "The Penalty of Leadership" had on the public, it certainly made an impression on the advertising industry! Nothing quite like it had been seen before.

It defined the Cadillac and made it stand out from other cars. Perhaps the best compliment to Cadillac, the self-proclaimed "Standard of the World", is that it is a style of ad that has been imitated many times since the original was published so long ago.

Four years later Cadillac repeated the ad in a different format in the January 11, 1919, issue of the Saturday Evening Post magazine. (source: Bill Roberts)

1905 Cadillac ad. (source: Chuck's Toyland)