Discovered! The lost Havana Chevy commercial
Coming across a neat old car in Cuba is always a pleasure. But getting to see a rare, auto-related artifact from Cuba – one that I feared might never surface – is a singular delight. I had heard about this Canadian-produced commercial years ago. Filmed in Havana, it was meant to show how Cubans treasure their long-serving Chevrolets. Durability, value, the bond between vehicle and owner – it's hard to imagine a better set of feel-good messages that could be captured in a 60-second spot. Back in Canada, however, problems emerged. First, the story went, concerns were expressed about the thickly accented English of the lead actor and narrator. A decision was made to re-record the audio with the voice of a different actor. Perhaps there was dissatisfaction with the dubbing. Perhaps – and this would seem more likely – there were second thoughts about airing a commercial that would inevitably be seen by Americans, and that could offend a...
