Favorite Automobile Spokesperson: Meet Joe Isuzu, David Leisure

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

A couple of days ago, Jalopnik ran one of their “question of the day” features. It asked, “who is your favorite spokesperson?” Thus, the inspiration for a new series of posts on influential automotive spokepersons. So first up is one of the most memorable automotive ad men ever created. Meet Mr. Joe Isuzu himself, David Leisure.

Continue reading after the jump!

David Leisure was born in San Diego. He moved to Los Angeles after studying drama at San Diego State University. When David got his gig as the Joe Isuzu character, he was living in his 1964 Volkswagen Bus. One of his first acting assignments was as a Hare Krishna who begged for donations at the airport in the zany comedy film Airplane! (1980). He later costarred as Richard Milligan’s obnoxious neighbor Charley Dietz on the sitcom EMPTY NEST from 1988 to 1995.

The Joe Isuzu campaign was created by Della Femina, Travisano and Partners in 1985. They featured Leisure as a slick salesman, who will “stretch the truth” to get the car sold. Some memorable lines include “It has more seats than the Astrodome” referring to the Trooper model, as well as “It’ll do 150 mph” while at the bottom of the ad stated “Downhill in a Hurricane”. The ads ran until 1990. President Ronald Reagan once compared Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega to “that fellow from Isuzu.” and Chrysler executive Lee Iacocca proclaimed “If Chrysler isn’t the performance company, then I’m Joe Isuzu.” In 2001. Joe’s Isuzu returned by popular demand as a company spokesman (instead of a lying salesman) for American Isuzu Motor’s new Axiom SUV.

It looks like Joe Isuzu has retired, since they no longer sell cars and SUV’s in US. So fellow readers, here are some of the more memorable Joe Isuzu ads.