The Banana Car on "Right This Minute"

Thanksgiving 2012 Wrap Up

Thanksgiving has come and gone once again and we got a visit from the usual suspects.  Not family or friends of course, but the typical gang of product mobiles that roll through our lives at this time of year.  Starting with the Houston Holiday Parade we have the Houston Chronicle Star Car:

Along with the "high top" version of the Ronald McDonald Big Red Shoe:

And a bit of a surprise in that the HEB Shoppibg Cart Car is now joined by the BasketMobile.  While the Shopping Cart is an old favorite, this is the first time I've seen the Basket.

Moving on to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the product mobiles got short shrift from NBC and were barely featured for more than a few seconds (Boo!).  Here's the "low top" version of Ronald McDonald's Big Red Shoe:

And Planter's Nutmobile:

Another year, another visit from old friends.  As always, I'm holding out hope that new product mobiles will show up next year but, if not, we still have plenty to be thankful for.

Moximum Overdrive

If you remember our MoxieMobile entry from awhile back and are in the Key Largo area you have a chance to see an old school product mobile in person.

This beauty will be on display on the weekend of Nov. 29 - Dec 2nd at the Ocean Reef Club's Vintage Weekend:

They also seem to have any number of other vintage cars and airplanes on display during the event.  Looks like fun.

(Source: Hemmings Daily via our pal Uncle Frank)

2012 Thanksgiving Day Parade Preview

Not a lot of surprises this year.  It looks like we'll be spending Thanksgiving with some familiar faces.

This year, like the past several years, both the Planter's Nutmobile and the Ronald McDonald Big Red Shoe Car will be be making an appearance at the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

As always we were hoping for some different product mobiles to show up on the big day but we will be watching some of the smaller parades to see if we spot any of our other favorites.

Pesty

You might have seen some of the Truly Nolan Pest Control "Mice" on the road but you might not be aware of some of their more ambitious, previous promotional vehicles.

Like this Scorpion model:

Or this beauty which I assume is a termite:

Thanks to the indomitable Uncle Frank for sending in the pics!

Weinermobile Web Comic Cameo

The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile made a cameo appearance in a recent xkcd web comic:

You can click and drag your way through the VERY extensive drawing yourself to see if what other surprises you can find by clicking HERE.

Nature Adores a Vacuum

The great Uncle Frank gave us the heads up about this one via Dark Roast Blend:

 

We haven't heard too much about this Hoover advertising vehicle so I guess it's time to do some research.

 

Kissmobile to Make Parade Appearance

Next week you'll get a rare chance to see the elusive Hershey's Kissmobile!

It will be a part of the 8th Annual Grand Slam Parade on August 15 in Williamsport, PA.

It will be joined by the (non-product mobile, but still cool) Johnsonville Big Taste Grill.  This is a great opportunity to see the Kissmobile in motion and away from it's usual parking spot at the Antique Auto Museum in Hershey, PA

Checking in With the Phone Car

Awhile back we told you about how the Phone Car had been damaged.  Well, it looks like it's been fixed up better than ever and having a busy summer:

And it has also been making a few familiar friends:

You can follow the Phone Car's adventures and see more pictures like these on the car's Facebook Page!

The Banana Car on Kickstarter

The Big Banana Car has started a Kickstarter Project to fund a world tour and documentary. Here's the video they posted on their page: 

Muffled

This is a buyer's market for product mobiles.  Last time it was the "other" Kissmobile and now it's the "other" Mufflermobile (not to be confused with this Mufflermobile):

She can be yours for $7,800.00 according to this eBay auction.  I'm not sure what business it promoted before (and the auction is somewhat vague on the topic) but it has plenty of room to paint your muffler business' logo!

(Thanks once again to the great Uncle Frank!)

The Long Kiss Goodnight

There is another Kissmobile.  And now it's for sale:

I've seen pictures of this one before but could never get any information about it.  It looks like it was made to promote a radio station and has seen better days.  But the current owner is restoring it, has put it on Craigslist and can be yours for a mere $10,000.00.

Test Drive: L.L. Bean Bootmobile

Cars.com got to take the L.L. Bean Bootmobile for a test drive!

Click HERE to read about their drive.

A Step in the Right Direction

The L.L. Bean Bootmobile continues its 100 Anniversary Tour with a recent stop in Boston.

Here's a great video of their stop:

Here is an article about it from Boston.com

The Banana Car Visits My Rancher Country Market

Here's some video we shot recently of the Banana Car's visit to My Rancher Country Market in Greenville, TX

Adweek Promo Vehicle Article

AdWeek has a great new article about promotional vehicles.  From the headline: "Even in the era of Facebook and Twitter, nothing drives brand awareness like a custom set of wheels"

 You can read the article HERE

Upcoming Banana Car Appearance

Hootenanny

Apparently there is a Hootbus!  Which apparently promotes Hootsuite which is apparently some sort of social media doohickey!  (See, I know about things.)

The Hootbus made an appearance at the recent South by Southwest in Austin, TX and therefore it made several appearances on the internet.  Here are some highlights:

This picture of the Hootbus was tweeted by @bgakevin1

 This picture of t-shirt guns a'blazin' atop the Hootbus comes courtesy of USA Today

 This is a picture of the Hootbus outside of Blue Genie Art Industries in Austin.  The pic comes from the JNA Designs Blog.

We'll be keeping our eyes open for more Hootbus appearances.  Thanks to Darin for the heads up on this one.

The Nutmobile Gets Animated

The Nutmobile gets animated in the latest commercial from Planter's.  It advertises their new Men's Health Team Mix and the Nutmobile gets a short cameo. (While this is definitely a good start, I think it should be in all their commercials.)

You can watch the commercial below:

Preview of Summer Tours

Summer is right around the corner and that means there will be mobile marketing tours across the country. We've got some info about some new vehicles on the road that you will undoubtedly want to track down to see in person. Unfortunately most of them fall into the "Not a Product Mobile" category (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7) but that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of fun and plenty of free samples!

Let's start with Wild Side from Jack Link's Beef Jerky:

Looks like there are two of them that will be appearing at the usual places: fair, festivals, etc. You can see their schedule HERE (looks like neither are coming to my town...insert frowny face).

Krispy Kreme's "Glaze the Nation" tour has a tricked out bus traveling the country and making stops to celebrate the doughnut CHAIN'S 75th Anniversary:
You can get more info about the tour on their website or follow the Cruiser's Twitter feed. Here's a short clip from the Velocity Channel promoting the work done by Outkast Customs on the vehicle:



And don't forget the L.L. Bean Bootmobile tour that we mentioned earlier. The company has an overall event schedule HERE that includes stops by the Bootmobile. Right now there aren't very many stops but that will probably change once summer gets in gear.


More tour info coming soon! (And, as usual, thanks to that fountain of info Uncle Frank for the heads up!)

Food Fight

As we mentioned earlier, recently the stars aligned and there was a chance meeting between the Wienermobile and the Banana Car. This left a big impression on Banana Car owner Steve Braithwaite who has been insisting on the Banana Car Facebook page that the two motorized munchies face off in a drag race.

This obsession most recently manifested itself in a plea from Steve to the Dole Fruit & Vegetable Company to back his play by providing yellow jumpsuits for him and his pit crew. Here's the letter he submitted to Dole:

Dear Dole.
Please help me.
I have challenged the Oscar Mayer folks to a drag race between the Big Banana Car and their Weiner Mobile.

So far I have heard nothing back from them.
... (I think they're yeller!)

If I don't hear back soon I am going to publish an open letter to them in the New York Times and formally throw down the gauntlet.
If they agree I would like you in my court and hopefully twist your arm to outfit my pit crew in bright yellow racing coveralls.

Yours sincerly (sic),

Steve Braithwaite.
(Owner: The Big Banana Car)

You have to admit that that is not a very large request which is probably a good strategy for Steve. He has our full support because, let's face it, a race between those two grocery giants would be too awesome to pass up. However, we must warn him that Banana Racing, while definitely appealing is a very slippery slope.

We'll be following this story with relish.

Another Meat Up

Awhile bakc we showed you a picture of an historic "meat up" between the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and Planter's Nutmobile. Well now there's been another meeting between two colossus cars. This picture was posted on the World's Largest Things Facebook page:

It shows the Wienermobile meeting the Banana Car in what can only be described as a phallic automotive showdown!

Coke Bike

I don't have any information about this one. I'm not sure if it was licensed by Coke or if it's just a custom job but it sure looks cool:



Thanks once again to Uncle Frank for the heads up.

The Wienermobile on the Today Show

The Wienermobile popped up on the 17th hour of the Today Show:

These Boots Were Made for Rolling

L.L. Bean is celebrating their 100th Anniversary in the best way possible: with a product mobile tour! Meet the Bootmobile:

Picture courtesy of the NY Times

Check out this video on the making of the vehicle:



And check back here for updates on the tour!

(Thanks again to Uncle Frank)

Thermal

There's an interesting article on the Bowery Boys blog that chronicles the history of the Thermos company. And, of course, they had to mention the Thermos product mobile:

From the article:

"The product began popping up in truly odd places, all engineered for the maximum of publicity. Most of the 200,000 New Yorkers who lined Broadway for an "automobile carnival parade" in 1909 observed one prize-winning vehicle -- a car in the shape of a Thermos bottle. (The Thermos car below is from the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup races, in Long Island. I imagine it must be the same vehicle. Pic courtesy Vanderbilt Cup Races.)"

Read the rest of the article HERE. And thanks, once again, to Uncle Frank for the heads up!