CITROEN well and truly cemented the Auld Alliance when it put Sean Connery front and centre in its ad for the C6 in 2006.
Despite his age, he surprised the French car maker by agreeing to star in the commercial, which was filmed at his home in the Bahamas. The ad was to communicate the pleasure of driving and the effect it produced – like an elixir of life.
At each bend, Connery got younger and younger so that, when he stepped out of the car at his hotel, through the magic of technology, he looked more like his 007 character in Dr No 40 years earlier than the 75-year-old he actually was.
The concierge says “Mr Connery, you have changed”, to which he replies, deadpan, “It’s the car”.
Advertising, and bold advertising at that, has been at the heart of Citroen since its incarnation just over 100 years ago in 1919. There have been quirky, fascinating and sometimes beautiful adverts.
Founder Andre Citroen was one of the first to realise that an advertisement could be much more than a list of qualities slung together.
He excelled at piquing the public’s interest in his product and even the first-ever ad could not help but grab attention, with the fantastic efficiency he boasted of in the 10HP alongside the price 7250 francs.
The Type A (A for Andre) appeared in the L’Illustration newspaper of February 15, 1919, and certainly did the trick.
Although it was only a prototype and nobody had driven it, despite the fact he did not have the means to produce it, thousands of people paid their 3500-franc deposit and Citroen was in business.
Whatever the pressure on funds, Andre Citroen made sure his cars were always visible through advertising, which became more and more sophisticated as the years passed. The first straight black and white ads gave way to beautifully drawn art nouveau posters.
The double chevron, the company’s logo, appeared shortly afterwards and, with each new model, came a string of adverts celebrating it. The Traction Avant, the 2CV, the DS have all had their moments in the spotlight – even the funky Mehari.
Grace Jones, Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford have all featured in Citroen ads and, indeed, Andre Citroen was one of the first to recognise women’s influence in the car buying decision. Early ads see him stating that a Citroen would appeal to French women.
Some of the greatest names in French advertising have worked on Citroen ads and some of the greatest photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson. Citroens have spanned the world and the last 100 years and here are some of their iconic ads.
