In today's world of meaningless and truly stupid marketing campaigns, it's refreshing to look back at how the old Detroit PR firms promoted their clients' products. They smartly focused on the many positive attributes of those products, unlike the ridiculous "hidden" meanings of today's commercials, which truly have nothing to do with the cars themselves.

Take the absurd Subaru commercials, which depict their cars being driven by a "family" of Golden Retrievers. Really? The only thing Toyota talks about is their "Toyotathon," while the "deep thinking" Matthew McConaughey reflects back on the Lincoln he said he once owned. Again, what about the cars themselves, their special features and why it makes sense owning one?

So it was refreshing to read this old Dodge brochure, which promoted their new 273 V-8. Instead of having some animal or a Martian talk about how good the Dodge looks when parked under a street lamp, the PR firm went right to the heart of the matter and told consumers all the special quality features and engineering specifics of its new small-block engine. "The Great New 273 V-8! Packed with advanced, go-quality features"; now that's an impressive, attention-grabbing headline!

Marketing a product on its value? Who would have thought!