Honda Nicest People Campaign

Motorcyclists also had image problems in this country at the time, something Honda blunted with the "You meet the nicest people" advertising campaign in 1962, and with attractive entry-level bikes. The C100 was backed by one of the best advertising campaigns ever - "You meet the nicest people on a Honda", with illustrations showing many different types of people enjoying the ride - it rapidly became the best-selling motorcycle of all time. The "Nicest People" ad originated with the Grays Agency in Los Angeles, and it appeared in general interest magazines like Life and even in upstart and radical publications like Playboy, before making its way to television. The campaign proved key to starting Honda's huge export drive. Just 3 years before they had overtaken Tohatsu as the leading Japanese motorcycle manufacturer. In the US it completely changed the image of motorcycles, as much of the affluent public had previously thought that only greasy gangsters rode bikes due to the image conveyed by the Hell's Angels and films such as The Wild One.