Goodby Brings Back Joe Isuzu

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After an 11-year hiatus, advertising icon Joe Isuzu is returning to television—this time to hype the automaker’s new sport utility vehicle, the Axiom.

A campaign breaking this week from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners marks the return of an ad figure almost as well-known as Mr. Whipple. The campaign will launch with a single spot and then expand, agency executives said—meaning Joe could again become a television fixture.

The Joe Isuzu character—a smarmy salesman who makes outrageous claims about vehicles—was created by the former Della Femina McNamee, Los Angeles, in the early 1980s, but was retired after a 12-year run when the company chose to focus more on the product in its ads.



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