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Airline Thefts. At least one of Wells, Rich, Greene's ideas has already boomeranged. In her dealings with Braniff, Mary Wells persuaded the airline to paint its jets in pastel hues and garb its stewardesses in Pucci-designed uniforms. But a Wells ad showing an elderly woman passenger stealing everything from a Braniff blanket to the plane itself has had the unintended effect of dramatically increasing the line's theft rate. No matter how the American Motors campaign goes over, however, there are hopes that some of the company's cars will sell well. Based on optimism expressed by its dealers, A.M.C. last week announced that it will increase production of '68 Javelins and Rambler Americans by 14%.
Also taking a few swipes at the Big Three is Sweden's Volvo, the third largest auto importer (after Volkswagen and Opel), whose upcoming ad campaign is being handled by an even newer agency, Manhattan's Scali, McCabe, Sieves, Inc. To push Volvo, its only commercial account (approximate billing: $3,500,000), the ambitious, five-month-old agency is carrying on a Volkswagen-style campaign extolling Volvo's durability, high gas mileage, out-of-the-past lines and resistance to annual model changeovers. One Volvo ad pictures an all-paper car, which is pointedly described as the "logical next step" in Detroit-style auto obsolescence.