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

roadburner

Yes, and each ad is just another gift to Zebra Corner.

Mr_Shiftright

Some of them are pretty rude.

fintail

Chevy is rude to pollute the airwaves with that dorky nonsense. Turnabout is fair play, right?

Mr_Shiftright

Sure. But some of them are too raunchy to be passed around in the office.

It does make you wonder, though. how each car company views its customers. There is definitely a difference among various brands.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

Some of them are pretty rude.

Yeah, they stopped being funny a while ago.

fintail

The ads savage the sensibilities of many viewers. These are probably the worst consistently themed ads in modern history - and GM keeps running with it. Either they prepaid some "Ad creatives" and aren't going to lose the money, or someone exec's kids in law got a job.

The Malibu one still amuses me. So bad, it was just begging to be called out.

ab348

I get it that you hate them and agree they aren't great ads but hardly the worst. The "sporty Camry" grounded to the ground ad was arguably far worse. The newer Toyota ads with Jan are not much of an improvement. The Kia hamsters have to be in the discussion. Here in Canada the Hyundai espionage ads would certainly make the list. Pretty much any Nissan horror movie ad would be near the top. Several Honda ads spike the annoyance charts. The list goes on.

Mr_Shiftright

As H.L. Mencken said: "Never underestimate the intelligence of the American people". So if the ads sell cars, that's all that counts. Bottom line, baby.

It's interesting to read car ads from 100 years ago. Back then, they were still into the utility of the car, not the image so much (a bit of it appears in the really expensive cars). But even with all the "class" of those vintage ads, they still lied like rugs. Things like "Climbs the tallest mountains effortlessly, with smooth quiet power, effortless shifting, and unparalleled reliability". In 1918? I don't think so.

fintail

Nah, the Malibu one is a farce, and the spots pandering to millennials or hipster types are up there too. The Malibu one where a "not actor" thinks it costs 80K, and is compared to something like a BMW-Tesla hybrid is just inexcusable. Are "real people" like this?

I actually thought the hamsters were creative - those spots didn't irk me. The Toyota hyperbolic platitudes are more irritating - "sporty" Camry, "stylish" Corolla and Prius, "aggressively sophisticated" Highlander, LOL. Next they will be the most bigly bestest cars ever, believe me.

80K Malibu LOL, MMakes me think of this

ab348

Many, maybe even most, people in the age group they feature are oblivious to cars. They may know brand names and have preconceptions about them but could not ID one if their life depended on it. In part that is what these ads try to get at - not saying a Malibu is as good as a Lexus or Audi or whatever, but that their preconceptions about how one might be designed and equipped weren't correct. I'm not sure why that offends you so.

fintail

Judging by the comments all over the web, not just on the Zebra Corner parodies, but virtually everywhere the ad campaign has been mentioned, it isn't just me who rolls their eyes to the point of being audible. I think the ads annoy anyone with basic knowledge of the market. 80K Malibu? Maybe for a member of one of the "lost tribes" who has been forced into this civilization and is just learning cars.

I am not sure why the Youtube videos mocking the dopey GM spots offend some others so

ab348

Simple. Because the parodies crossed the line of trying to be witty and funny a while ago and now are just crude and nasty.

kyfdx

Nissan commercials are the absolute worst.. It started way before the Star Wars tie-in.

Mr_Shiftright

The parodies got lazy and decided that nasty gutter language is a way to be funny. Maybe if you're 12 or so.

fintail

At what point did the parodies become intolerable? Even the first one (mocking the regrettable Cruze "emoji" ad, I think - yet another shallow pandering to youth) was crude. Heck, the spokesman is a parody of the Bostonian stereotype.

Nissan ads have been awful for some time, they make me think of an ad agency ran by frat boys.

Gutter is the sign of the times, look at the leadership

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, but some of them are really disgusting. They are so gratuitously obscene that it makes you cringe.

fintail

It's Youtube. It's a Boston stereotype. It's probably cleaner than real life

And really, those commercials are so lame, they ask for every word of it. 80K BMW-Tesla hybrid Malibu LOL.

Mr_Shiftright

No, it's just really vulgar, not funny at all--at least the one I'm referring to. It's mean and it's disgusting.

Some of their parodies WERE funny, though. Like everything else, applause sometimes encourages the performer to turn up the volume and jump the shark, so to speak.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

No, it's just really vulgar, not funny at all--at least the one I'm referring to. It's mean and it's disgusting.

Some of their parodies WERE funny, though. Like everything else, applause sometimes encourages the performer to turn up the volume and jump the shark, so to speak.

This is exactly it. They started out funny. They no longer are.

fintail

I guess it doesn't get to me, I can see things that exist just for shock value, and not be offended by them. I probably say just as bad things during my evening commute. Their target audience is likely 15-35 year old males, and I am not too far out of that age demographic yet.

I still can't think of a specific ad campaign that is as hokey and irritating as "real people, not actors" - at best, it works to harm faith in humanity.

andres3

ab348 said:

I get it that you hate them and agree they aren't great ads but hardly the worst. The "sporty Camry" grounded to the ground ad was arguably far worse. The newer Toyota ads with Jan are not much of an improvement. The Kia hamsters have to be in the discussion. Here in Canada the Hyundai espionage ads would certainly make the list. Pretty much any Nissan horror movie ad would be near the top. Several Honda ads spike the annoyance charts. The list goes on.

I thought Toyota's "Grounded to the Ground" ads hit the right demographic. I could believe a Toyota real buyer, not actor, would say such a thing!

andres3

fintail said:

I guess it doesn't get to me, I can see things that exist just for shock value, and not be offended by them. I probably say just as bad things during my evening commute. Their target audience is likely 15-35 year old males, and I am not too far out of that age demographic yet.

I still can't think of a specific ad campaign that is as hokey and irritating as "real people, not actors" - at best, it works to harm faith in humanity.

I think the fact that GM continues with the lame "Real People, not Actors" campaign for so long and for so many attempts excuses the parodies from continuing to exist for so long and for so many attempts.

You can't parody what doesn't exist, right? I will agree the earlier ones (like the Malibu), were funnier.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, but parodies are supposed to be funny, not just a transcript of a conversation in a prison latrine.

fintail

You mean language with wicked Bahstan flair

I too think the earlier ones had less shock value, and were better. The Malibu one is best, partly because of the absurdity of the original spot.

Mr_Shiftright

No, it's not language, it's brutal misogyny.

fintail

Eh, Bahstan flair. Look at the world today, it's what we've become.

Mr_Shiftright

Nah, they jumped the shark, definitely. They are in very dark territory.

fintail

Spend some time on youtube or the web in general, this isn't new territory. Change is constant, not always for the positive.

Mr_Shiftright

They produce some very civilized commercials in Europe. This one from Mercedes is typical of the "understated" approach that American automakers rarely use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSlhbBBBi3A

fintail

Europe is a different world from the colonies in many ways, not always good, but recently, probably more good than not. You won't find a "real people, not actors" spot there, for any car.

fintail

At one time, GM had some ads that didn't feel like they were going out of their way to insult intelligence:

https://youtu.be/E4x0NLpM2tE

https://youtu.be/S3Ha_sFNsqc

https://youtu.be/IswbdmpjbnU

ab348

I've posted that Cadillac Style video previously. One of the best auto campaigns ever.

The Heartbeat of America compilation is interesting. I haven't heard that jingle in years and it sounds pretty good. I guess Chevy could still use that line back in the '80s.

fintail

I think people have fond memories of those spots 25 years later. 25 years from now, people will snicker or cringe at recent spots.

tjc78

Great ads, bad cars!

ab348

fintail said:

I think people have fond memories of those spots 25 years later. 25 years from now, people will snicker or cringe at recent spots.

Well, I'm unaware of any car ad campaigns today that are actually good.

fintail

True, none are really good. Many are inoffensive or forgettable. And some are just awful and will be remembered.

ab348 said:

Well, I'm unaware of any car ad campaigns today that are actually good.

stickguy

I enjoyed the Subaru ads where the labs were driving the cars. Clever concept, and the situations were true to form (the human version). And of course, I have a soft spot for labs.

stickguy

speaking of which, Subaru just came out with some new spots featuring the dogs. A couple are classics. Almost enough to get me to buy a Sube!

fintail

Just saw the Fittipaldi Kia Stinger commercial. Racing drivers hawking mainstream cars always makes me think of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Ws_Bp7WYA

"Fueled by youth" is also a questionable slogan, most youth don't buy $50K+ cars, Kias or not.

Mr_Shiftright

Kia is throwing a lot of money into Stinger promotion, that's for sure.

qbrozen

What's with the CGI Steven Tyler, though? Creepy

berri

L guess they are focusing on 50 year old buyers???

andres3

I liked Jeeps commercials during the Superbowl. Seemed believable, unlike some real people, not actors spots from another car maker.

ab348

Heh - the only one I can say I actually liked was the one with Jeff Goldblum.

andres3

I liked the simplicity of the off-road river drive commercial.

toomanyfumes

I think the new "real people" Chevy commercials are the worst yet. Implying that the only choice if you want a reliable vehicle is to buy a Chevrolet.

andres3

The best marketing wasn't even a Superbowl spot, but SpaceX putting a Tesla Roadster up in orbit headed for Mars.

Mr_Shiftright

Well that's a pretty expensive way to advertise! Of course, I guess you could say that stockholders are paying the gas bill.

berri

Maybe not. Space X was launching the rocket anyway, gets tons of press coverage at the build cost of the car, additional fuel and logistics to launch not all that affected by the payload of a car, adds to the Tesla tech image as well. Just speculation as I have no numbers to work with.

andres3

berri said:

Maybe not. Space X was launching the rocket anyway, gets tons of press coverage at the build cost of the car, additional fuel and logistics to launch not all that affected by the payload of a car, adds to the Tesla tech image as well. Just speculation as I have no numbers to work with.

I think your right. I heard in the past NASA or others would just use concrete blocks or something similar as a "test" payload. Musk apparently found that boring and came up with the idea to put a Tesla in Space.

Brilliant if you ask me. Cool stuff. Probably the best Non-Science-Fiction I've seen in my lifetime (which of course includes the two side booster rockets landing themselves simultaneously and autonomously for economical re-use.