Mr. Beep The Talking Car

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The Mr. Beep project which began circa 1950 was the brainchild of the British Petrolium (BP Oil Co). Mr. Beep the talking car was used to educate kids on traffic safety. The car was used for both PR and traffic safety lessons in schools, and community events such as: the (CNE) Canadian National Exhibition, fairs, and other various public events. Mr. Beep made a number of television appearances as well. Mr. Beep was primary use was in combination with police school safety programs. A brilliant marketing strategy employed by BP, which exposed the Canadian youth and future gas consumers to their product.

BP started off using a caricature car called Mr. Beep, in its Canadian advertising program in 1958, and sold plastic models of the car at their stations. In the summer of 1959, BP produced a full-scaled version of the car

The early life of the car consisted of traveling lectures promoting traffic safety with a police officer. The car would accompany the officer to schools across Ontario. The children would ask Mr. Beep the talking car question regarding traffic safety and Mr. Beep would respond to them via three speakers concealed in the car which was broadcast from a transmitter several hundred feet away. As the children asked questions an operator would respond to them, making it seem as if the car was answering them. 

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