Ask Dr. Z commercials for DaimlerChrysler - effective?

Sylvia

What do you think of the Ask Dr. Z commercials on television these days? Funny and creative, do they make you feel different about DaimlerChrysler?

rockylee

Sylvia, I find them to be flat out dumb and out of touch with american adults. IMO it makes DC look childish or immature, instead of being professional. :sick:

Rocky

fintail

I could tolerate them if they didn't air them 50x per hour, and more as time goes on. But all in all, they are mediocre at best. I don't know about these ad agencies the domestics hire....but it's no worse than "American Revolution" or "Bold Moves"

andre1969

partly because I keep expecting to hear something out of his mouth like "HOOOOO-GAN!!! Forty days in the cooler!" Or "I know NAAAAA-THING!"

210delray

Yeah, that show was pretty hilarious, and I'm old enough to have watched it when it wasn't a rerun!

Also, I was in the marching band in high school, and we used to play the theme song.

lemko

...Lee Iacocca was an individual with a very powerful personality and the same approach doesn't work with other automotive CEOs. Dr. Z comes across like Grandpa Stroehmann. Bill Ford comes across as a clueless wimp. Bob Lutz would be a good spokesman for GM as he is a lot like Iacocca. If I ever saw Roger Smith on TV, I'd probably pull out a .357 Magnum and make like Elvis.

mirth

Dumb dumb dumb dumb.

IMHO

perna

I could tolerate them if they didn't air them 50x per hour, and more as time goes on.

Exactly. I didn't mind them at first, but our local news station airs them about 10 times during the hour-long news broadcast. I can't take it anymore!

I think the gimmick would be more effective if he played into the American concept of the German mind. For example, have him sitting in the driver's seat of the minivan, turning around and yelling things in mangled English at 4-5 mothers sitting in back. That's why the Soup [non-permissible content removed] was so funny, it wasn't so much what he said but how he said it.

Karen_S

A journalist hopes to hear from people who have seen the "Ask Dr. Z" ad campaign. Please respond to ctalati@edmunds.com with your daytime contact info, your opinion of the campaign and a rating from one to five that indicates your opinion (one is "dislike it strongly" while five is "love it").

wale_bate1

Beav, don't be a goof... :P

I find them ineffective, silly and potentially damaging. Americans, IMO, would rather not be reminded that Chrysler is no longer really an American company, but an arm of Benz. I don't think I'd be focusing on (to Joe US Taxpayer) some no-name furriner as a spokesperson.

lemko

...may have worked back in the '80s and '90s when German cars truly were perceived as being superior. Today, we can see the kaiser has no clothes.

rockylee

Mercedes, I agree has lost alot its clout among high-end buyers. BMW however is still German strong with benchmark engineering. Audi still has alot of clout, so what I'm trying to say is don't right-off German Engineering yet.

I also just forgot to mention Porsche which is the most reliable car made in the world= made by Germans. Dr. Z with his tacky commercials isn't helping Chrysler IMHO.

Rocky

fintail

"Mercedes, I agree has lost alot its clout among high-end buyers."

I dunno, the new S is a smash hit, the SL still rules its segment, the E seems popular....I don't know what has really been lost.

rockylee

Fintail, no offense pal, but Mercedes was in a league of its own only decade and a half ago. It was the most desired car brand, and most talked about in Music Video's. My Generation put Mercedes on a very high pedestal. However over the last half decade other car company's kinda stole some thunder from Mercedes. I'm not saying the brand still isn't a high-end Marque, but it's not as desirable as other premium brands we have today. Aston Martin, Maserratti, Bentley, BMW, seem to be as desirable among the premium brand buyers today. I think Maybach, might of hurt the brand since everyone I know wants the top model of the company which the S-Class isn't anymore. The Trophey wife doesn't want second best, but the best and Mercedes, best is a $350K Maybach, wich most can't afford.

I know that sounds like a weird analogy, but I do know people like that. The BMW "M" is considered by the elites as the best and it is still affordable by most elites.

Rocky

fintail

Bentley, Aston, etc aren't really a comparison...the cheapest of those is as pricey as the most expensive Mercedes. I am from the same generation as you, you know. Maserati is a very small player. BMW is certainly as desirable, but I see no overall lead, save for maybe the sporty 3er over the usually soft and boring C. I don't know anyone who wants a Maybach...they are seen as kind of pointless and most non-car people have no clue it is a Mercedes product. It's just this thing that exists in its own dimension.

The 'elites' there must be different than here...the posing sport vehicle of choice for kept women locally is still the SL, with their hubbys in a large AMG car. M cars are for their trust fund kids or hopefully those who have met success early on. I see 5-10 E55 for every M5.

rockylee

Yep, you make a good arguement. Down here I see 20-25 BMW's for every one Benz. :confuse:

Rocky

rockylee

The Dr. is faced with a $600 million loss. :surprise:

Rocky

fintail

I think around here 3ers might outnumber C class....but E and S handily outnumber 5 and 7 cars.

rockylee

fintail, many might agree with you, however a large portion doesn't. The 3 series based on volume still is the largest class

Rocky

jipster

No. Dr. Z is more like Dr. ZZZZZZZZ, as in he puts you to sleep. The commercials go for humor...and it just ain't there.

fintail

Do you have sales figures? I can't seem to find any.

rockylee

I read either on this site or in one of the car magazines the BMW 3 series sold over 200,000 units last year
(If my memory is working correctly)

210delray

BMW 3 series: 60,356, up 23.3% from Jan-June 2005
5 series: 27,835, up 19.0%
7 series: 9,523, up 20.7%

Mercedes C class: 22,596, down 12.9%
E class: 20,720, up 1.4%
S class: 15,584, up 104.2%

The above totals include the M and AMG versions.

rockylee

Okay, I was wrong Maybe the 200K was for the 3 series segment. I remember something with 3 series and 200K

Thanx,

Rocky

fintail

I am surprised the 5er sells so well, given its looks. I wonder what facelift E will do.

Does the C class include CLK?

210delray

The C class includes only the sedans and I would assume a few leftover hatchbacks. The CLK accounted for an additional 9,854 units.

Rocky, total BMW sales for the first half of calendar 2006 (excluding the Mini Cooper) are 137,220, so yes, they'll easily exceed 200K units this year.

fintail

Wow, 9800+ CLK...I am surprised. It should be with the C class, as it is a C class.

rockylee

Thank-you for connecting the dots for me.

Rocky

rockylee

I just saw 1 minute ago Dr. Z bouncing a soccer ball of his head during a Chrysler Caravan commercial. :surprise:

This IMHO, is the dumbest one yet. It is a extreme embarrassment for Chrysler and for the German people. :sick:

Rocky

nortsr1

From checking inventory at a lot of the local Chrysler Dealer websites since July 1st, (on a daily basis)...it sure doesn't look like the Chyslers are moving to good so far. I believe the Employee sale is supposed to end August 5th. The deals were better BEFORE the Employee Price Program went into effect. They lowered the rebate and dealer to mfg. incentive and the deals were definitely better BEFORE the Sale.
I am anxious to see what the July sales total is compared to last July.

rockylee

July sales to this year for chrysler, are much lower than last July. One of the forums had the numbers posted for the Big 3. July last year they were up. This July they are significantly down.

Rocky

lakerunner4h

My wife and I find these commercials superficial, a bit dopey, and to a great extent an exercise in pandering to the lowest common mental denominator. Dr. Zetsche might consider taking notes for Lee Iacocca -- his commercials (at least the ones from the early 80's) demonstrated that he understood the relevance of his product to the customer.

i_luv_toyota

Dr. Z. I see his face non-stop around here, at least twice per commercial break, no matter if it's cable or network channels.

I can't wait until it's "Auf Wiedersehen" for Dr. Z! His face is causing me nightmares (and headaches)!

habitat1

That Chrysler thinks it's prospective customers are dumb enough to be persuaded that if they put a little more "German" in their advertising, they will feel better about buying American junk.

I think there is some danger that the advertising will backfire - and have an additional negative image for Mercedes. I know a number of past Mercedes loyalists who, in spite of company claims to the contrary, strongly believe that Mercedes quality has declined as a direct result of the Chrysler merger and American influence on product design/engineering. Even AMG models are going excessively overboard on horsepower and light on better overall performance engineering (a distinctly American tradition). Anyone that thinks otherwise only need to drive a slushbox C55 (soon to be C63) and 6-speed M3 back to back. One has bragging rights about the most horsepower, the other is a vastly superior performance coupe in every dimension.

I find Dr. Z. commercials to be moderately humorous. But I doubt I would if I owned an Mercedes.

P.S. For the record, I am absolutely not anti-American. We make the best airplanes (Boeing), heavy equipment (Caterpillar), and locomotives (General Electric) in the world. You don't see them using Dr. Z to add a German accent to their advertising.

fintail

Like the old joke says....when this "merger of equals" took place, people hoped Chrysler would become more like MB. Instead, MB is more like Chrysler. Funny that MB has embarked on this sometimes obscene horsepower kick after it buys the famous old musclecar maker. Maybe the joke is true.

As a MB obsessive, I am very hesitant to go for any products launched after the "merger". Horror stories abound about the ML, the facelift (00+) E class, the 01+ C class, the 00+ S-class, 6cyl SLK, etc etc. I was talking to my mechanic about the C43 vs C32, and he said the older car is much less troublesome.

jipster

....the commercial where the director calls "cut" then scolds Dr.Z("sorry") for not mentioning the heme engine is kind of funny. I guess if you see the things on t.v about 100 times a day they start to grow on you.

john_324

First few times I saw that ad, I thought the Hemi guy muttered "foreigners..." to Dr. Z instead of "actors". I thought it was a funny way to remind people that Chrysler is still somewhat American...