This campaign is most memorable not only for the catchy Plymouth jingles "Plymouth is Going to Win You Over This Year" and one sung to the tune of
The Beat goes On but for the infamous
'TOUCH' that occured during the filming of Petula's first American TV special. An advertising executive representing the show sponsor, Chrysler Corporation (of which Plymouth was a subsidiary) was responsible for the highly publicized incident of racial discrimination that occurred when Petula gently touched Harry Belafonte's arm during their duet together. Fearing the fallout from car dealerships in the south, the advertising executive demanded that the song be re-taped, eliminating "the touch." (This was, afterall, the racially-charged sixties.) Petula refused to re-tape the song and the incident was reported in all of the media (oddly noted recently as one of VH1's top hundred "greatest moments in rock 'n roll history,") A few days later, the ad exec was relieved of his duties and Chrysler issued a mollifying, 'win you back', statement