Car Commercials, the good, the bad, and the annoying!

fintail

That's not a Camry, that's a racing chassis with a Camry-badged shell

I'd pick the race car, and sell it.

Insurance commercials can be pretty bad too, yeah.

@Stever@Edmunds said:
I think the winner made the right choice.

Mr_Shiftright

"I saved $300 by swtiching to X-Co!!" Yep, for a year, then they jack you.....

bpeebles

@Stever@Edmunds said:
It would be fun to see a guy idling in a Miata as the camera zooms out to see him stuck in traffic between two big belching semis.

One problem with that.... Modern diesel engines barely make a whisp of smoke. Heck, one could sit in a closed garage wih an idling disel and NOT get CO poisoning. (Even a modern gasoline engine will kill you) The last diesel I saw 'belching' was a 1960's era bulldozer.

As an Edmunds moderator, I would think you would be more 'in the know' about diesel technology...and perhaps be touting its virtues over gasoline engines which have pretty-much peaked. (Except for energy-recovery turbocharging which appears promising)

fintail

I think there are a lot of smoke belching noise polluting diesel commercial vehicles on the road - not new ones, but they are out there, at least around Seattle. More than a couple lifted diesel smoke-rolling large pickups too, for those with issues or family trees that don't fork.

Brand new diesels and modern diesel cars are pretty quiet and smokeless though, indeed.

@bpeebles said:
As an Edmunds moderator, I would think you would be more 'in the know' about diesel technology...and perhaps be touting its virtues over gasoline engines which have pretty-much peaked. (Except for energy-recovery turbocharging which appears promising)

stever

@bpeebles, I got belched at going for pizza an hour ago right at the café door. Typical 4x4 diesel pickup common in these parts. Then walking home we got passed by a snowmachine that must have been a 2 cycle that left a lovely aroma going by. We get frequent belching logging trucks around here too, going right through town. They really "blow their nose" and leave black clouds hanging in the air.

Diesel tech may be doing great on the new Mercedes' lot with all the Ad Blue stuff, but we're years away from the new tech trickling down to the older fleet of pickup trucks and bigger rigs out there.

So yeah, other than good mileage and towing grunt, I don't see much to admire about diesels. And diesel fumes happen to be an asthma trigger for my wife. Plus the jury is still out on their emissions (especially particulates). I'm sure not going to be touting them. We'll be buying another gasser or gas/hybrid down the road.

isellhondas

I feel the same way. Why pay the extra amount of money up front for a small improvement in mileage? Diesel should be much less money than gasoline but it's more expensive.

I don't see a reason to bother with one. I feel the same way about hybrids. They are trendy but not worth the extra expense up front much less the HUGE cost down the road when the batteries eventually fail.

stever

For those interested, we've been kicking around diesels since 2008 over in the What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car? discussion.

fintail

The recent Altima racing car "I can't believe it's a 4 door" theme ads are particularly bad. Nissan ads in general are annoying - they give me the vibe that they were made by a college frat.

Lexus RX ad with the bicyclists is also kind of funny - I see a million of those things a day, I don't have memory of one actually hauling bicycles or doing anything active.

fintail

Fiat commercial where Godzilla spits out the 500 might not send a good message. There's also a fairly annoying Honda whistling commercial being aired here.

fintail

There's a Lexus RX spot that calls the vehicle "seductive". Really.

fintail

Still loathing recent Nissan spots.

I like the Mini whistler/domino themed ad - I wonder who is doing the whistling. Reminds me of Roger Whittaker - my dad was a big fan of him, and that spot has a positive association from it.

ab348

The current "Cadillac Collection" ad with the techno music and the choreographed assembly line robots is strangely appealing for some reason.

imidazol97

Annoying is the Subaru commercial showing a wrecked car and different people say "They lived" over and over. Ridiculous and deceptive in that no company can guarantee that a vehicle will have the occupants survive an accident.

This reminds me of the Volvo commercials where they tried to portray their cars as stronger (supported a full-sized Oldsmobile on its roof but with extra bracing that later was revealed to have been used inside).

fintail

I llike this 'they lived' style ad

I really dislike the ads that MB and now Infiniti have aired, touting the automatic accident avoidance tech. My car compensated for my distraction!

Mr_Shiftright

I never saw the wisdom of reminding buyers that cars are incredibly dangerous places to be at times. You wouldn't see Cessna doing that, or a powerboat company.

fintail

I don't know, safety can sell, when handled properly. Some brands have definitely done it right.

Private single engine small planes and powerboats are probably more dangerous than cars, on a per mile basis.

@Mr_Shiftright said:
I never saw the wisdom of reminding buyers that cars are incredibly dangerous places to be at times. You wouldn't see Cessna doing that, or a powerboat company.

robr2

@Mr_Shiftright said:
I never saw the wisdom of reminding buyers that cars are incredibly dangerous places to be at times. You wouldn't see Cessna doing that, or a powerboat company.

It's probably because the vast majority of us have a good chance of being in a car accident and a very low probability of ever being in a powerboat or private plane never mind in an accident with one. Further, the chance of surviving a car accident are much greater than one in a boat or plane.

iluvmysephia1

Especially an accident in a plane, robr2.

Mr_Shiftright

True, but it is interesting that the human brain seems very inept at assessing actual vs. perceived risk. People would gladly hop in an old car with bad tires and fly down the freeway but you'd be hard pressed to get them into the water where a shark was caught 3 days ago.

fintail

Via a Kia commercial, I learned the 2014 Optima LX (or whatever is for the lease blowout special) is "sporty". Cool!

ab348

Absolutely HATE the new Acura TLX ad with the Sid Vicious version of "My Way". Would single-handedly prevent me from even considering the car.

greg128

ab348 said:

Absolutely HATE the new Acura TLX ad with the Sid Vicious version of "My Way". Would single-handedly prevent me from even considering the car.

That's what my wife said when she heard that annoying soundtrack. I thought the idea of advertising is to get the viewer/listener to buy the product and not give them a reason not to buy.

I'm surprised it took so long for this commercial to show up in a post here especially since the forum title contains the words "car commercials" and "annoying"

stickguy

now I am wondering if I have seen this commercial. Sure doesn't ring a bell.

greg128

Make sure your volume is down . This would have been a good commercial with a different soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7PcYMH67c

stickguy

interesting song choice. I did like the commercial part though.

still, not that bad. I guess it qualifies as making you remember it.

fintail

A brand dearly seeking identity might take risks to find it. Chances are, this isn't the needed identity. Not sure this car will sell beyond the Acura fanboys.

stickguy

not sure how many sedan fanboys there are. But plenty of people buy based on features/price.

fintail

As sedan sales have been unimpressive for years, I suspect most are repeat buyers, rather than conquests. Plenty of people have ignored most offerings aside from the MDX. I don't know if the new model will attract more, but at least this car looks better than the TL.

stickguy said:

not sure how many sedan fanboys there are. But plenty of people buy based on features/price.

Mr_Shiftright

Nice commercial for a ten year old.

ab348

Looks like the new Acura TLX may have cut Sid Vicious loose. Tonight on Thursday Night Football they have aired 2 new ads I haven't seen before which are slightly better, although one had a tagline about "when does your German car lease end?" which seems a bit declasse. But at least it isn't Sid Vicious.

stever

" A new interactive online factory tour guides consumers through the facility where the all-new 2015 Chrysler 200 is built.

Using Google Maps Business View technology, the virtual tour provides user-controlled, 360-degree access to the 5 million square-foot assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, that was totally rebuilt in anticipation of the 2015 Chrysler 200."

2015 Chrysler 200 Online Factory Tour Guides Consumers Through Assembly Process

ab348

stever said:

" A new interactive online factory tour guides consumers through the facility where the all-new 2015 Chrysler 200 is built.

Using Google Maps Business View technology, the virtual tour provides user-controlled, 360-degree access to the 5 million square-foot assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, that was totally rebuilt in anticipation of the 2015 Chrysler 200."

2015 Chrysler 200 Online Factory Tour Guides Consumers Through Assembly Process

Doesn't work at all. Had to give up as nothing would work as it was supposed to and the screens refreshed in a very choppy way. Typical Google experience, promising more than it delivers and offering a totally unfathomable user interface.

Mr_Shiftright

Here's an interesting one. Moviegoers in Hong Kong were asked to leave their cell phone ON in the theater, and then VW pulled this one on them:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JHixeIr_6BM?rel=0&autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3

robr2

I really like the Cadillac ATS commercial featuring The Clash's rendition of Brand New Cadillac. Just a cool song.

toomanyfumes

I don't know why, but I actually like the Lincoln commercials with Matthew Mcconoughy.

imidazol97

Mr_Shiftright said:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JHixeIr_6BM?rel=0&autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3

Das ist GUT.

fintail

Cool ad, I'd like to see the data behind the stat, but maybe it is true in HK.

I wonder how such a thing could be broadcast here - maybe similarly, as the "against the law" bit is scoffed at.

Mr_Shiftright said:

fintail

The new Scion "For The Driven" spot makes me cringe, pretty lame and pointless.

Speaking of ads, I saw a billboard for a TLX in Canada, and upon coming home, had a small brochure for one in the mail.

Edit: upon opening the brochure, it is actually a small full line brochure, with a "You're pre-approved to lease" message at the end.

roadburner

The "Bold Choice" Camry ads are another moronic attempt to make an appliance "Cool."

fintail

Well, the front end of that Camry is definitely bold. I remember they tried to play a sporty angle with the 2002 model, as well. I guess they think boring doesn't sell.

I see the Nissan ad with the grown fratbros in twin red Altimas is back. Yay. It grates on me, but I like how one of the houses at the end is Walter's house from "The Burbs" (Universal back lot).

stickguy

well, considering for years Camry has been #1 in sales in the class, apparently boring + cheap does sell.

fintail

Exactly. So why pretend to be something else? There's nothing wrong with a Camry as a car, heck, I encouraged my mother to buy one. But false pretenses aren't usually cool.

stickguy said:

well, considering for years Camry has been #1 in sales in the class, apparently boring + cheap does sell.

roadburner

stickguy said:

well, considering for years Camry has been #1 in sales in the class, apparently boring + cheap does sell.

I'm not saying that a Camry isn't a perfectly reliable anodyne appliance, but trying to say that buying one is a "bold" choice is akin to saying that someone who orders a vanilla ice cream cone is a rebel who is living on the edge...

stickguy

oh, I agree that when Toyota puts out ads trying to spin it as sporty or sexy or some such, it is just silly. I am sure they know it, and that the vast majority of people (including the regular buyers) will just ignore the ads. But, always a chance it gets a few new people to consider one.

kyfdx

roadburner said:

stickguy said:

well, considering for years Camry has been #1 in sales in the class, apparently boring + cheap does sell.

I'm not saying that a Camry isn't a perfectly reliable anodyne appliance, but trying to say that buying one is a "bold" choice is akin to saying that someone who orders a vanilla ice cream cone is a rebel who is living on the edge...

They aren't trying to convince you. They are trying to convince people that are in the market to buy the car in the first place... Everyone wants to feel cool about what they drive..

I bet it works.

stickguy

well, it had nothing to do with any ads, but I came damned close to getting one a few months back. And not because it was taking over the simple sports sedan class that BMW abandoned!

roadburner

kyfdx said:

roadburner said:

stickguy said:

well, considering for years Camry has been #1 in sales in the class, apparently boring + cheap does sell.

I'm not saying that a Camry isn't a perfectly reliable anodyne appliance, but trying to say that buying one is a "bold" choice is akin to saying that someone who orders a vanilla ice cream cone is a rebel who is living on the edge...

They aren't trying to convince you. They are trying to convince people that are in the market to buy the car in the first place... Everyone wants to feel cool about what they drive..

I bet it works.

I know those ads aren't aimed at enthusiasts;but I think that in addition to hoping to snag new buyers they are telling the existing Camry constituency "See, you all aren't deadly dull nerds- you folks are TREND SETTERS!!!"

ab348

I will give Toyota credit - the current "wedding chase" commercial for the Camry is at least well-done and sort of fun. I was struck yesterday while watching football how just about every Nissan ad not only fails to interest me, but actually irritates me. This applies to both their US and Canadian ads, which differ. In the US the one with the little kid imagining all the threats outside is bad, and up here there is one with a guy being attacked at night by gas pumps as he tries to fill up. That one is really, really awful. Probably not a good advertising strategy to annoy your audience.

carnaught

After various people can't identify a new Buick as it is so radically changed, I get a kick out of the old lady in saying "oh my" in expressing how impressed she is with it.

stickguy

other than the fact that every Buick front end looks the same, in a bold way, makes perfect sense!