MovieChat Forums > The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) Discussion > The XKG-JFK-400 Roadster ?

The XKG-JFK-400 Roadster ?

posted 7 years ago by TheLonelyOne86 (240)
11 replies | jump to latest

(SPOILERS in this first sentence!!)
This was mentioned in Season 2: Episode 3 where Rob discovers his wife has a hidden checkbook and she plans to use it on said car.

The way the audience laughed, I assumed it was a real car name that Laura totally messed up, and it was a joke about women knowing nothing about cars kind-of-thing.

My husband thinks they just used the fake name of a car to avoid having to pay or get permission or whatever it is that's necessary when a specific product is mentioned on a show.

So, I looked it up. The closest I got was the Jaguar XKE Roadster, which had various 1960s models.

What's your thought on this? 1960s sexist joke (readily acceptable for the time period) or a way to save money? (For the record, I'm not a hard core feminist or anything, and my take on the line was more from audience reaction that my own personal thoughts on the matter.)

[–] GlenEllyn (21526) 7 years ago

I suspect it's made up, probably for the reason your husband gave. Remember the episode where Rob buys the Tarantula sports car? Perhaps a takeoff on the Fiat Spider?

[–] [email protected] (5871) 7 years ago

I always assumed it was a made up name. In those days shows did not do any sort of product placement, even with little things. For instance, there would be a box of cereal on the table but there was always tape over the brand name.

In a few other episodes, Rob mentioned snack food that they put out for guests- Wheat Whippies, Corn Cuties, Potato Poopies, etc. lol Obviously not the names of real brands.

Then there was the time Buddy took a sleeping pill, a Dozy Doodle. And who could forget the candy that was the sponsor of the UNcle Spunky Show- Crummy Buttons!

A few years after the episode where Laura was saving up for Rob's car, he did buy a sports car, a Tarantula. I don't think that was a real car model either. As far as the name of the original car, I always thought the 'JFK' part was a nod to the President at the time.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (570) 2 years ago

In those days shows did not do any sort of product placement, even with little things.

Depends on what you mean by "those days" and "product placement." The Stu Erwin Show, AKA "The Trouble with Father," aired from 1950 to 1955, just a few years ahead of DVD. Every time someone opened a kitchen cabinet, you would see that every shelf was filled with boxes of Wheaties -- but the show was sponsored by General Mills, so that wasn't exactly product placement (as I understand the term).

And a lot of shows had the stars doing the commercials. That includes the Dick Van Dyke Show, by the way -- some of the ads had Rob and Laura relaxing on the couch smoking the sponsor's cigarettes. But that's not exactly product placement either.

[–] kwestmo (4385) 2 years ago

"Every time someone opened a kitchen cabinet, you would see that every shelf was filled with boxes of Wheaties -- but the show was sponsored by General Mills"

that is exactly what product placement is. paying to have a product displayed onscreen

[–] CarolTheDabbler (570) 2 years ago

True -- but I think the term is most often used when the product is not made by an official sponsor of the show. There have been sponsors since the early days of radio, but I never heard the term "product placement" till the past few decades.

[–] [email protected] (5871) 2 years ago

By "those days" I meant the sixties when all the products would have tape over the company name and logo.

But yes, many shows had their stars doing commercials for their sponsor's product. Laura Petrie does one for dishwashing liquid. Desi Arnaz does some commercials for Phillip Morris and he and Lucy did an ad for Lilt home permanent. I just bought several seasons of The Andy Griffith Show and they include a lot of the cast in character doing ads for Sanka and Post cereals,etc.

It's just that on most shows of the sixties and seventies, people drank a "cola", not a Coke.

And sponsors didn't like the idea of competing products on their shows. I just bought season one of Get Smart. Barbara Feldon had been a model and she did a lot of print ads for Revlon. On the DVD she comments that she almost lost her job on the show because of an old ad. It was for a deodorant and the show's sponsor also sold deodorant. She said that it was a big deal and took a lot of pleading not to get her kicked off Get Smart for an old print ad.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (570) 2 years ago

By "those days" I meant the sixties....

Ah, that may explain our differing perceptions. The Stu Erwin show (with Wheaties in the cupboards) that I mentioned was on in the fifties, which was a different era. I don't offhand recall how they handled showing products that their sponsor didn't make -- milk and sugar for all those Wheaties, for example -- but I don't remember product names being taped over. Oh, wait -- the milk would have been in bottles, with the only label on the cap, so that's easy, and of course the sugar would have been in a sugar bowl.

[–] jasonmovieguy (182) 6 years ago

Your Title sounds like a TV set (eg SONY 65 HDR 4K)

[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

Yes, because that would have been Sony TV nomenclature circa 1964, idiot.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (570) 2 years ago

... and maybe that was jasonmovieguy's point?

[–] liscarkat (18410) 2 years ago

It's just meant to be a sendup of fancy sportscar names, the kind, like Jaguar, with lots of letters and numbers. I'm pretty sure they were just trying to be silly, not cheap or sexist.