A car was dropped from a plane for an ad—but the parachute failed

By the early '70s, foreign sports cars were starting to break into the North American market, and the sleek little MGB was a sexy option in 1973.

MGB's advertising manager, Bob Burden, wanted a "blockbuster" television commercial – as the company was facing increased competition from Japanese imports. The creative director of MGB's advertising agency was a Canadian named Mayhew, and he had a big idea.

As Mayhew described it, three competitor cars – a Datsun, a Fiat, and a Porsche – would be racing across the desert, leaving plumes of dust in their wake. Then an MGB would be dropped out of an airplane a mile and a half up in the sky, and fall dramatically to the earth with a parachute. A skydiver, who jumped out of the same plane, would land beside the MGB, hop in, and drive away, leaving the competitors in the dust. Burden just stared at Mayhew, blankly.

"But what's the selling point?" he asked.

Mayhew said, "MGB. Still one jump ahead."

With that line, Burden was sold.

Filming would take place over the Mojave Desert in California, not far from the Edwards Airforce Base, where Chuck Yeager had broken the sound barrier in 1947. The cost of this stunt exceeded anything previously spent on an MGB commercial by a factor of ten. Burden's nervous boss wished him luck, with an undercurrent of: "Don't come back if it doesn't work."

On the morning of the shoot, two brand-new, red MGBs were polished and ready. There were dozens of details to contend with. Wind was the biggest factor. But luckily, it was a spectacularly still morning.

The FTC insisted the commercial had to be authentic. It had to be a real car that landed and drove away – no tricks – or the commercial could not be aired. So every single detail of the drop and landing had to be calculated to the last millimetre. A small armada of aircraft got ready. Two small Cesnas and a helicopter to do the filming, and a Caribou mother ship to drop the MGB.

With the early morning light just right, it was go-time. The planes climbed into the sky and at 8,000 feet, the Caribou opened its huge rear doors and the red MGB slid out. The skydiver jumped. It was a beautiful sight. Both seemed to falling in slow motion. The skydiver's chute opened.

Then everyone went silent. The car's chute wasn't opening. The car started falling a lot faster than the skydiver. Everyone just stared as the MGB smashed to the ground.

The skydiver landed beside the brand-new MGB, which was now a completely flattened pancake.

Bob Burden went pale.

As it turned out, the parachute lines had snagged and torn on bolts inside the Caribou, rendering the parachute inoperable. Mayhew, the creative director, just shrugged his shoulders, turned to Burden and said, "Let's try it again with the backup MGB." 

Burden responded saying, "But I don't have a backup job."

Mayhew put his arm around him and said, "You can only be fired once, whether you destroy one car or two."

With that inescapable logic, take two was called.

The planes lifted to the sky. The Caribou's hatch opened. Gleaming MGB #2 slipped out. The skydiver jumped. And everyone held their breath. Suddenly, the car's chute opened. Then the skydiver's chute unfolded. Both drifted perfectly to the desert floor as the three competitor cars raced toward them. The skydiver landed, hopped into the MGB, and sped away, to the wild applause of one Bob Burden.

At the national MGB dealer's meeting later that month, the parachute ad received a standing ovation. The commercial generated press from outlets across the country. It won a top advertising award – and when Bob Burden was asked how they had pulled it off, he replied, in the most understated way, "It took a couple of goes, but it worked fine."

Little did everyone know that a "couple of goes" meant a "couple of cars."

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