Electronics 1980
Sony
Take the Sony and run.
FROM THE PRINTED PAGEOriginal ad copy
OCR transcription from the archived page. Scanning and reading-order errors may remain.
Take the Sony and run. The desire to get away is something we all experience from time to time. But while we occasionally need a breather from the tensions of civilization, we're also accustomed to the little niceties. Sony's sophisticated array of portables offer the ideal solution to this dilemma. For they allow us to escape from the world, yet take the best of it along with us. Size is only half the story. Take along an Emmy Award-winning Sony Trinitron, and discover that even on a 5-inch screen (measured diagonally) Sony delivers an excellent color picture. Or run away with a combination AM/FM stereo radio and cassette-corder that also combines Sony's rich sound and classic design. Tune in to the world. If you take Sony's AM/FM portable radio with TV sound, you can tune in to the weather as well as your favorite TV shows. And if you would like to tune in to the world, pack Sony's 7-band shortwave radio. It's about as cumbersome as a paperback book. But if you want to take along the ultimate, grab the FX-412. A 4-inch black-and-white TV, an AM/FM radio and a cassette-corder, all in one beautifully designed 12-pound package. Run with the best. Whichever portable you take, and there are many more to choose from, rest assured that you've made the best choice. Because they're all Sonys. Then, the next time you decide to pack up and leave your troubles on the doorstep, you won't have to leave Mozart or the World Series at home. SONY THE ONE AND ONLY
Commentary
The image offers a particular version of escape: a tent, a car and a person walking into a sunset, while the copy refuses to let civilization disappear completely. Sony’s answer to “getting away” is not silence; it is a portable supply of weather, television, Mozart and the World Series.
The range of products lets the ad widen its audience without losing its central promise. A five-inch Trinitron, an AM/FM cassette combination, a shortwave radio and the all-in-one FX-412 form a ladder of portability. The specifications are modest, but the lifestyle claim is large: you can choose how much world to carry.
“Take the Sony and run” makes the brand name into an object and a verb. The repeated “run,” “take,” “tune” and “pack” gives the copy physical momentum, matching the blurred light and open road. For young copywriters, the lesson is to let the verbs make the product feel portable before the measurements prove it.
Sony began in 1946 as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering and built its identity through technological firsts, as described in the company’s official history. It remains a global technology and entertainment group, though portable media now lives in phones and networked devices as much as in dedicated hardware.
The lasting promise is selective freedom: go elsewhere without giving up the things that make home enjoyable. The outdated part is the assumption that each form of media requires its own object. The emotional trade remains recognisable whenever technology is sold as a way to choose one’s distance from the world.