Stratocaster Advertisements

In this post, we take a look at some of the best Stratocaster advertisements of all time. From the classic “black and white” ads of the 1950s and 1960s, to the more modern and colorful ads of the 1980s and 1990s, these ads showcase the Stratocaster in all its glory.

"You won't part with yours either" Series by Bob Perine

The success of the Fender brand was determined by several factors: the undisputed quality of his instruments, a valid and large distribution/sale network, and, above all, a series of innovative advertising campaigns and elegant catalogs - in comparison, those of the competitors in the early 1950s were dull, conservative and insignificant. The new entry Fender could afford more audacious and colorful ads. In a period in which musical instrument companies aimed at austerity, the campaign started in 1957 by the agency Perine/Jacoby in Los Angeles, centered on the young, creative and progressive nature of its instruments, was a great success. Bob Perine immediately identified the segment of the population to which the ads were to be destined and proposed the slogan "You won't part with yours either", largely used in the 50s and 60s and rediscovered many years later.

1957 - Car

1958 you won't part with yours either - marine

1958 - Skuba

Skater boy

Car

Airplane

Tank

"You won't part with yours either" advert reissued on Guitar Player USA, 1995

"You won't part with yours either" advert reissued on Fender Frontline, 1995 ca.

2014 you won't part with yours either 2014 60th anniversary

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Stratocaster in 2014, Fender presented a new advert "you won't part with yours either" Series

"Wherever you go, you'll find Fender" by Dave Mullen

Similar to Bob Perine's historic "You won't part with yours either", these new Fender Ads were developed by Dave Mullen in 2006.

2006 Wherever you go, you'll find Fender ads

The sounds that create legends

"The sound that creates legends" motto appeared for the fist time in conjunction with the presentation of the Vintage Series in 1982. In 1998 Fender "reissued" it for a series of ads made as a tribute to four guitarists who achieved success with their Stratocasters: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck.

Jimi Hendrix

SRV

Eric Clapton

Jeff Beck

Artist advert & Signature Series

From the 80s onwards, new, very colorful advertisements appeared on Frontlines or other magazines, depicting famous guitarists holding their signature or another Stratocasters.

Signature Series Frontline advert

Signature Series, "Blues Power" advert

1988 - Robert Cray

Eric Clapton Signature, "Forever Man"

1997 Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster

2003 - Jimi Hendrix Woodstock Stratocaster

2015 - Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster

2018 - Voodoo Child Stratcaster

1989 - Yngwie Malmsteen

1995 - Yngwie Malmsteen

Yngwie Malmsteen

2006 - Yngwie Malmsteen, Fender 60th Anniversary

Stevie Ray Vaughan

1997 - Jimmie Vaughan Tex Mex Stratocaster advert

1997 - Dick Dale

1998 Eric-Johnson American Standard Stratocaster

1998 - Eric Johnson and the American Standard Stratocaster

Brad Withford Fender advert: The Classic Rock Band

The fabulous Thunderbirds

1997 - Lee Roy Parnell pubblicizza la Fender Hot Rodded Series

"Welcome to Strat Country" Advert

1988 - Greg Howe and the HM Series

Sambora with his "Custom" HRR Stratocaster

Richie Sambora, HRR Series advert

Advert of the 20 Custom Shop Hank Marvin Strats of 1990, equipped with Lace Sensors and MDB, later withdrawn because not authorized by Hank

1991 - Hank Marvin advertises the Squier Stratocasters made in Korea

1991 - Hank Marvin advertises the Squier Stratocaster made in Korea

1993 - Squier Hank Marvin Stratocaster UK advert

2000 - Hank Marvin Classic Stratocaster

1996 - Hank Marvin Stratocaster, made in Japan

1998 - Hank Marvin 40th Anniversary Stratocaster

1996 - The Ventures Stratocaster advert

1997 - Hellecasters signature

2006 - Jeff Beck, Fender 60th anniversary advert

2006 - Pete Townshend, Fender 60th anniversary advert

2017 - Pete Townshend Signature Stratocaster

2006 - Buddy Guy at Guitar Center, Fender 60th anniversary advert

2005 - John Mayer Stratocaster

2005 - Eric Johnson Stratocaster

2017 - Ehsaan Noorani

2013 - Brownie Replica

2008 - Billy Corgan Stratocaster

2016 - The Edge Stratocaster

2017 - Robert Robertson Last Waltz Stratocaster

One of the very first advert of the Eric Clapton Stratocaster, Rolling Stone magazine. "There really is only one Eric Clapton and there really is only one Fender" emphasizes the rebirth and rebranding of the new post-CBS Fender.

2005 - Mark Knopfler Stratocaster

self-celebration Fender ads

Often Fender exalted its history or the characters and tools that made it famous. In addition to the adverts obviously concerned to Leo Fender or to the musicians who used these guitars, one from 1967 stands out, in the CBS era, in which a Fender employee climbs on a neck suspended between two boxes with the motto "We stand on our reputation". In fact, it refers to a famous photo (click on the AD to see it) in which Leo, probably around 1950, asked a Fender employee to stand on an Esquire neck without truss rod, to demonstrate the hardiness of his maple necks and above all the uselessness of the truss rods in his guitars! In fact, the first Esquire (with one or two pickups) of the early 1950s came out without a truss rod which then appeared during the summer of the same year when Leo was convinced that it was necessary to obtain a perfect and long-lasting setup of the neck...

1967 - We stand on our reputation

1971 - Fender: need we say more?

Fender: a portrait of success

1963 - Quality Means Confidence

Leo Fender: This man started a revolution

1962 - The world's most talented guitarist prefer Fender

1955 advertisement Lawrence Welk & Buddy Merrill

1955 - Lawrence Welk & Buddy Merrill

1956 - Fender sales reps

1955 - Fender: fine electric Instruments

1956 - These top artists specify Fender

1957 - fender: smoother playing faster actoion

1957 - Fender: smoother playing faster action

Fender: speaking for cats everywhere

Garage band with Fender

2014 - Fender Stratocaster 60th Anniversary Advertising

Fender: Fine electric instruments

2000 - "Maybe it's not Viagra you need" by Jerlov & Company advertising agency for Fender in Sweden

2002 - "The most dangerous predator known to a woman" by Jerlov & Company advertising agency for Fender Scandinavia in Sweden

2014 - Fender 60th anniversary '54 American Vintage Strat ad

Fender: fine electric instruments

"Self expression never says 'turn it down'"

Other CBS era adverts

In the 70s, the Fender led by CBS inaugurated a series of very colorful advertisements with very immediate mottos, and another evidently inspired by Disney.

1973 - The world favourite flying machine

1974 - You get there faster on a Fender

1976 - Alice in the Fenderland

In this advert, appeared between 1977 and 1978, the men of the Fender research and development department presented an hardtail Stratocaster in the natural finish with black plastics, a very fashionable combination in the late 70s.

1979 - 25th anniversary Stratocaster

1980 - The Strat ad

Vintage & Vintage Hot Rodded Ads

1982 - The sound that creates legends

1995 - Time Travelers

Time Machine Series, Closet Classic Finish, advert

American Vintage Series advert

'62 Vintage Hot Road Stratocaster ad

'57 Vintage Hot Road Stratocaster ad

2004 - Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster: Ressurection advert by Jerlov & Company advertising agency for Fender in Sweden

2011 - Road Worn Series ad

The choice of every generation

2002 - Fender American Vintage Series '57 Stratocaster

1999 - Fender Classic Series advert

Japanese '50 e '60 Reissues UK Advert, 1995

2018 - Vintage Custom Series

2019 - Christone Kingfish and the Vintera Stratocasters

Other pre-CBS Fender ads and the letter to dealers

The first leaflets depicting the Stratocaster were printed in April: the new guitar was showed for the first time in the May edition of the International Musician. In a letter to the dealers Fender stated that it was ready to supply them as early as April 15th.

1954 - Letter to dealers

Early Strat advertisement

1954 - Stratocaster ad, International Musician

1960 Advertisement for the Fender Stratocaster Guitar

1960 - The new Fender Stratocaster arrives in the United Kingdom after the end, in 1959, of the law prohibiting the import of US-made instruments in force since 1951

American Standard Series ads

Since its inception, the American Standard Stratocaster has been associated with the American flag to mark its origin. "Born in the USA", "Make the history", "Still the one" are among the mottos most used by Fender in its advertisements.

1987 - Fender American Standard Stratocaster advert

2008 - Make history Black Strat

2008 - Make history

2012 - Fender American Standard Stratocaster - Still the one

2002 - Fender American Series - A better sounding, a better playing guitar

2012 - American Standard Series - Still the one

2008 - Make History White Strat

Other Stratocasters

2004 - Limited ed. 1954 Stratocaster 50th anniversary

2004 - American Deluxe Stratocaster 50th Anniversary

2012 - Fender Select Series Advert

1997 - Collectors Edition Stratocaster

1993 - Special Edition Stratocaster

Custom Shop advert

Diverging styles colliding in agreement

2019 - American Ultra advert

2019 - American Ultra teaser

2016 - American Elite Series

1989 - American Standard e Plus Series ad

1989 - American Standard and Plus Series ad

1996 - Lone Strat ad

2010 - American Special Stratocaster Series

1999 - American Deluxe Series ad

Highway One Stratocaster

Highway One Series

2018 - Strat Tele, Parallel Universe Series

2007 - VG Stratocaster

2014 - Fender Stratocaster Deluxe Strat Plus

2007 - VG Stratocaster

Posters

Attack of the 50s Strat Girl

The source of Global Warming

Absynthe Poster - fan made not original

Playboy Covers

Plaboy, April 2003, Carmen Electra

Samatha Fox, October 1996

Samantha Fox, Sud Africa Edition, October 1996

OTHER VINTAGE fender advertisements

The very first Stratocaster advertisements showed the image of their endorsers. But it was not just a habit of the early Fender years: even later, Fender took advantage of the success of the guitarists who played his guitars, including Jimi Hendrix.
Mary Kaye, nicknamed the first woman of rock'n'roll, posed in 1956 for Fender catalog with a blonde Stratocaster with the gold-plated hardware passed into history with her name. Kaye, in reality, didn’t play the Stratocaster in that period: she’d only used it for few minutes for the 1956 Cha-Cha Cha Boom! making and for the advertising strongly wanted by Don Randall.