So if it wasn't a popular war why was everyone wearing green Vietnam army jackets as everyday clothing? i'm curious to know what your age is because I remember it very vividly and people were going out buying green cars to show support of their country.
If you want to debate whether or not VN was a popular war that people supported, that's another thread. The public sentiment during and after the VN War is widely documented. I'm hopeful you do not need my input on that.
I was born in '58. I was 9 when MLK was shot, 10 when Bobby Kennedy was shot. Watched the 68 Democratic riots on TV. Watched the riots in Prague and France. Watched a lot of protests on TV. Had a cousin (Class of '66) flying medivac choppers in VN during that era. Had a cousin in law (Class of '64) serving aboard the
Enterprise. My family was directly interested in what was going on. For a 10 year old kid, I was fairly aware of the war and the public sentiment at the time.
My background is in sales and marketing of products for public consumption. I have never heard of an unpopular war being the basis for the color of a car. And, IMHO, cannot for the life of me think of why a car company, conservative by nature, out to sell a product, would link itself in that way to a mass produced product. I would not recommend that strategy.
If, as you propose, the color green was sold and purchased by the public as support for the VN war, then why do we not see more '66 and '67's in greens when support for the war was higher than in later years? (Gulf of Tonkin incident in early '65. Tet offensive in '68)
Why do we still see a prevelence of greens after American involvement (say post 73?). Is it your position that a public that was tired of the conflict and 'just wanted out' after the Watergate scandal and the disgracing resignation of a president was still buying green cars to support the returning troops on which they were spitting?
If buying green was to support he troops, why were the shades of green changed year to year? Wouldn't just one green be associated with the cause so buyers could let the world know of their support via a rolling beacon of light? Wouldn't there be a green more closer to OD green? Are you proposing that people that opposed the war never bought a green car?
Again, are you attributing blue cars to show support of the Air Force? Were gold cars to show support of the Marines? If green was for the Army, then, logically, blue must be to show support for the Air Force and Gold cars for the Marines.
Is it your position that protestors of the war were wearing Army fatigues to show support of a war they were protesting? Mode of dress goes to a different topic: how each generation of youth expresses themselves through clothing.
Please present any supporting documentation from any car company or soruce for your position. The reasoning by Sales and Marketing departments would be fascinating. I'd love to learn more.
The topic was color of cars. Colors of cars are chosen for one reason (as stated above). They were the colors that people wanted to buy whether it was from GM, Ford, Mopar, AMC or Citroen. Tastes change over time. During the later 60's and into the 70's, customers happened to like green cars. Whether the VN war was going on or not had little, if any, bearing on what the public tastes were during the time. Two tone cars were popular in the 50's and early 60's. By 69...not so much so car makers stopped offering two tone cars. Green cars were popular then. Now, not so much. Times change. Tastes change.
