Holiday Advertisements Pop With a Fleet of Classic Red Ford Trucks

From commercials to Christmas cards, vintage red Ford trucks are all the rage this holiday season. 

Ford trucks are common in advertising campaigns in the automotive industry. As the bestselling vehicle in the United States, the products or services of many automotive industry (like Lifted Trucks, pictured above) companies apply to F-Series trucks, so it makes good sense to feature the popular pickup in the advertisements. However, when the Christmas season rolls around, antique Ford pickups show up in advertising programs outside of the automotive world.

A thread in the 1948 – 1956 F1, F100 & Larger F-Series Trucks section by FTE Forum member BobJ49F2 points out the popularity of the antique, red Ford truck in advertisements around this time of year. In this thread, some members show off their own red trucks, one of which is featured in a holiday advertisement, while others share similar promotional images.

We also learned that it isn’t just marketing and advertising, as holiday products feature the old school Ford trucks in red as well. It makes sense.  Trucks of every generation are classic in red, and it fits the season–whether it is against a snowy white wonderland, or green Christmas trees.

Ford Trucks in Holiday Advertisements

When the OP first posted his thread, he included the image above from the DXL Big & Tall website, showing an antique Ford pickup. When we went to that website, we noticed that the truck appears in other places around the site.

It must be the year of the Red Truck in Christmas advertising. Not that I don’t like seeing all of the old red trucks everywhere, especially the ones with Bonus Built trucks, especially with ’48-50s but doesn’t it seem like no one has an original thought? Almost every ad I’ve seen this year has an old red truck with the same tree positioned the same way in the bed. Oh well, here’s one more. My brother sent me the image this morning. He about as far away as you can get from being a truck guy, or even a mechanical guy. His strong point is knowledge as in book smarts, we’re total opposites.

This is from the DXL Big & Tall website (Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s a Manure Grill but at least they used an F-2/3 not one of those cutesy prima donna F-1s.

He would also share this picture (below) of his own antique F-Series when picking up the Christmas tree.

Just dug this picture up. We beat the “Old red truck for Christmas” idea by three year!!!

The Community Responds

After the OP shared the picture of his own antique Ford, PineConeFord replied that the truck in the initial advertisement in the thread was his own truck.

HEY, THAT’S MY OLD TRUCK!!!!! I want royalties.
But I do take it as a compliment that my handiwork (4 years of work) was worthy of a website Christmas photo.
I recognize the rectangular side mirrors with the passenger side forward-angled, running board step plate, the one-of-a-kind rear bumper, extra-large tail lights and the chrome tail light wire guards. Those were my special touches.
The woman who bought the truck from me last year may have allowed it to be in a photo shoot? She is a photographer.

Here is the truck in my yard:

Next, Abe shared the artwork from his local Ford dealership’s front windows, showcasing an antique red truck.

While GickNordon shared a holiday advertisement for Eastwood Auto Body Tools with a Ford truck that looks like it was red at one point.

Macys is running a commercial featuring a young girl who wants to be Santa when she grows up. Her parents deck out their red truck in Christmas lights and let her holiday wishes come true.

More than Advertising

In addition to advertising, it was pointed out that antique, red Ford trucks are also featured all over the place around the holiday. Even Dollar Tree has a classic rig on their gift cards.

Forum member Fomoko1 shared a Christmas card with an old school truck prominently featured.

We came across this decoration for sale at Christmas Special, featuring a 1948 Ford pickup.

Of course, we can’t forget Santa. Here’s Santa driving a flying antique Ford truck, chock full of presents for the good little boys and girls. What, you thought a sleigh could deliver all those toys?

And while it may not be the whole truck, Bobbytnm showed us one of his Christmas decorations.

Head over to the thread to share your classic Ford trucks in red, or examples of old school F-Series pickups being featured in holiday items.

Photos: Lifted Trucks; Christmas Special; Dollar Tree; Amazon

Join the Ford Truck Enthusiasts forums now!

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

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