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

pjyoung

My all time favorite misused pronunciation is:

orientated

diploid

The funniest is when they mispronounce pronunciation.

xccoachlou

Disgustipated. That's how I feel everytime someone pronounces "ask" as axe, as in "I axed you a question."

I think it was that nautical pugilist, Popeye T. Sailorman who first used the word disgustipated.

And it was Pres. Warren G. Harding who invented normalcy.

diploid

alfox - "Glad I missed that one!"

You can say that it was the day the music died.

kenjabi

Some ads I haven't seen mentioned yet:

1) Guy goes to Pepsi machine, pushes button and gets keys to a Mercedes. Oh, if only it were that easy!

2) VW ads in general have gone from amusing to just kinda weird. There's the one with the two guys standing in front of a dealership, one of them dressed as a bride. Then there's the ad that's gotta be at least 60 seconds long, that just shows a guy getting up, going to work, working, etc., showing the sameness of his life. Then he looks out a window at work and sees (we assume) a Beetle convertible. But we never see the car itself in the commercial! I always hate that.

3) New Acura SUV ad (GX?) showing it do a four-wheel slide through the snow in slow motion, with "Let It Snow" playing in background. Kinda cool seeing the snow whip up and over it as it turns.

4) Finally, I can't decide who's cuter: The chick in the Subaru Baja "Reincarnation" ad, or the chick in the Kia ad who goes through the different boyfriends.

andys120

shows a bunch of Gen Ys in Dodge Sratuses (Strati) pulling up next to a lone kid in a BMW 3er. "Hey Dude, big party tonight, come on over." "Oh man, I can't gotta work". Cut to party scene, doorbell rings, kid answers , opens door and it's Beemer driver,
"You ordered some Pizzas?". In the background you see the 3 series festooned with one of those Domino-style roof signs.

I thought it was pretty clever even tho I'd probably be the dweeb holding down two jobs so I could make payments on something cool instead of a friggin Dodge.

andre1969

...I delivered pizzas for about 5 1/2 years, and my vehicle of choice was usually a Dodge or some other Chrysler product!

I used to "lose" the delivery signs, though ;-)

pjyoung

I see "product liability" written all over this one. Why in the world show an SUV sliding sideways on a snow covered road. Heck...throw in a 4 inch high curb hidden in that snow and the words change to "let it roll, let it roll, let it roll".

Never did understand the appeal of cars sliding sideways in advertisments, but Acura's not alone in this.

94_octane

Actually, it's an ad for a LEXUS GX470 - but I'm sure Acura is glad for the free publicity!

badgerfan

Heck, I did that a few times with the family rear wheel drive Chevy sedan in the late sixties for fun after a fresh snowfall got packed down on the side streets. For you sun belters, it was called "doing donuts". My parents would have killed me if they knew. Fortunately, I never damaged the car or got caught by the police.

I guess I'm dating myself, huh?

kenjabi

pjyoung - You're right about the liability part. We just had our first "big" snow in a couple years here, and from what I heard the majority of accidents involved SUVs. Easy to see why, with commercials like this.

94_octane - Oops, you're right, it's a Lexus alright. But that's what these luxo-car makers get for all these inane alpha-numeric names...it's too easy to get 'em mixed up!

badgerfan

Usually the automakers get out from liability for these inane ads by having a disclaimer like
"dramatization" or "professional driver on closed course" and maybe something to the effect that you shouldn't be trying this yourself. I don't think Lexus had that on their ad however.

lemko

"Kids, don't try this at home!" I've always believed that such driving would void your warranty. Maybe they're encouraging people to abuse their SUVs so they won't be liable for warranty repairs.

xccoachlou

Ever notice how immaculately clean all the cars in commercials are? Even the ones that just crossed a stream, or a desert, or went on a dirt trail?

diploid

It's true about the disclaimers. if you see the ad for the Chevy Tracker where it's pulling a disabled 18-wheeler, there's a small disclaimer at the bottom of the screen and a very fast voice-over saying that the Tracker really can't do that.

odie6l

I saw a commercial the other day I thought was a pretty good commercial....

Showed a piece of paper floating down towards the road surface, everytime it got close to landing an car would come past and kick it back up. About the 3rd or 4th car the guy rolls down his window and grabs the paper as he goes past. It then show the line of cars going past a sign for a automobile club and keep our roads clean.

This commercial had a good message I thought. But I can't remember what car it was?

Odie

swschrad

that was the crew from the Porche Club cleaning the road, the road sign was in the last 5 seconds. very subtle. now if that were a dodge ad, it would stick on the grille and the ram would eat the paper in two gulps. not subtle. guess that's why the carerra is not the mayor of truckville, huh... but might outrun him....

crkeehn

I am enjoying the new Kia ads, especially the comparison test of SUVs. Of course Kia wins, as the narrator points out, it IS their commercial.

diploid

Kia is literally mudslinging (onto the X5's hood) in that commercial. And like mudslinging politicians' commercials during election periods, I turn the channel.

speterson1

Someone a while back mentioned the truck ad where the guys are towing the plane fast enough so that it comes off the ground, etc. etc. What I'd *really* like to see in that ad is the truck finally slowing down and stopping, and then being crushed as the plane rolls over it. Didn't think they made trailer brakes on airplanes...

mg330ci

I just saw the Dodge truck hemi commercial (probably the scarriest commercial ever created, I now have nightmares everyday) and got me started.

I can imagine their next TV commercial, talking about safety and showing how their trucks can vaporize crash dummies strategically positioned in front of them. "Yeah baby, not a single scratch, now lets try ramming that family driving a Corolla"

Has anybody wonder how you suppose to stop those things on time?

aha, aha, aha, ehe, ehe, ehe it has a hemi, ehe!

i_luv_toyota

they all follow the same pattern:

Behind them is a... ('snooty maitr'd," as in the 3.5RL ad)

In front of them is a...("a disater is unfolding;" 3.5RL ad)

But right now they're enjoying the luxury of their new Acura (model name)... (in this case, a 3.5RL)

And of course, the couple used is a mid 20's-early 30's yuppie couple. It's almost as stupid as the Lexus Christmas ads, which I also find very annoying.

swschrad

I had several different words in mind, but don't want to go there. regardless, there is a snooty British club atmosphere there that make me very darn glad that I will never buy one.

lot more of me than there are of their "chosen" as the sales of no-kidding trucks clearly indicate.

i_luv_toyota

I have never really liked Acura that much, if at all. Their commercials keep reminding me why, with their "snotty" atmosphere and "snobby" aura.

lemko

...really seem inappropriate with bad economy, unemployment, and coporate scandals. I wonder how many people actually buy their spouse a Lexus for Christmas?

swschrad

the rest of us even have to find out where the gas cap is, so we don't have to trade up before it runs empty. oh, pity us poor misguided souls, slugging along looking for vindication... if only we had applied to the RIGHT schools and joined the RIGHT fraternity.....

checkme

I have always thought that Lexus commercials are much worse than Acura commercials in this respect. The Acura commercial which shows a guy and his wife driving up a twisting mountain road is funny. It emphasizes fun driving over snobbery.

I don't recall ever seeing a fun Lexus commercial, however. The announcer's voice is really, really annoying, and the yuppies are even worse.

ab348

I just saw the Buick "Harley Earl" commercial for the Rendezvous. "They weren't ready for it" Harley says. They still aren't. To associate a designer like Earl with that dumpster-looking device is shameful.

astroman05

"OVERSTOCKED! We've been instructed to reduce inventory at all cost..." blah blah blah

Then later on, "All trade ins accepted".

How is that going to help the overstocked situation?

~~~~Nate

pk11

Every time I see this ad, it just leaves me confused - maybe someone can explain.

It's the Chrysler minivan ad, where dad and mom picks up their daughter one by one - first one pretends to hurt her leg at a soccer game, the second one from horse riding...

At the end, mom's cell phone rings, and she tells her husband, "van camp"...

Can someone enlighten this clueless soul?

jaserb

I think she says "band camp". The idea is that the kids love their new minivan so much that they try to get out of their respective summer camps so they can ride in the van. So, Chrysler is bringing families together by ... I dunno ... making them want to ride in a van? It's a pretty stupid commercial, I agree.

-Jason

lemko

Funny. There's a Dodge dealership not far from me with a truck pulled from a junkyard with missing tires, doors, and hood - essentially a shell displayed out front. A big sign with red letters reads "We'll take any trade!"

andys120

the Mazda6. a nice ride by all accounts, becomes the latest FWD car to do desert doughnuts in a TV ad. Mazda's ad agency really needs to get a clue.

The only thing more annoying than that zoo-zoom kid is the endless loop of cars circling tail out thru the sand, how original.

swschrad

absolutely, you'll never have an accident in the "wing-ding-ding-dinggggg 666xr4ti type R", look at this stellar control.....

geegee1958

with the man and woman looking glumly at all the cars around them, that are jags with huge ribbons on the roofs, that were supposedly xmas gifts. The car behind them has to honk at them, since they are so busy gawking, and sure enough, when they look behind them, that car has a dopey ribbon on it too!! guess santa didn't have them on his good boy and girl list.

diploid

I just saw the BMW X5 commercial where the SUV is running through snow and it shows images of wolves and pumas (?). I thought to my self: "oh no, they're going to do the same Saturn VUE commercial." They didn't, but it looked eerily familiar to the Saturn commercial.

jagboyxtype

Speaking of Jaguar ads, I (not surprisingly)liked the "Unwrap a Jaguar" one with the X, S, and XK.

How about that one in Britain for the X-type and the snowplow? You can download it @ http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/video/xtypead.mpg or at

http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/video/xtypead.rm for Real Player.

diploid

Funny thing is, I saw on the news how Lexus and Jaguar dealers were having a ball selling some of their vehicles. The trick? Just like in the commercials, they will deliver your car to your loved one with a big bow on the top for Christmas.

i_luv_toyota

It's still the "Like A Rock" theme, but the narrations are done by a different guy.

Has anybody else noticed this?

PF_Flyer

You're right, it's a new guy, and I remember thinking that they made the switch to... but at the moment I can't remember his name... I HATE braincramps!

PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

tincup47

Is the voice on the new chevy commercials.

diploid

Talk about being observant. All voice overs sound the same to me.

Anyone seen that infamous anti-SUV commercial yet? I haven't.

suvshopper4

And for years it has been Donald Sutherland as the voice of Volvo.

i_luv_toyota

I knew it was a different guy because the new guy's (if it is indeed James Garner, I have to hear it again for confirmation) voice wasn't as "deep" as the prior guy's.

tincup47

I heard Sam Elliot do a different Chevy Truck commercial today. So there seems to be at least two now. James Garner is doing the one with the poem with the scenic backdrops.

peter78

I saw just about the worst commercial I have ever seen. A man is driving his motorhome with his wife asleep in the other seat. A Porsche Cayenne pulls out from a dirt road. The DUMB-[non-permissible content removed] driver leaves the wheel and goes to the back of the motorhome just to look at a stupid SUV, meanwhile the motorhome is driving down the road with his wife asleep. When the Cayenne passes the motorhome, the man runs up to the front of the motorhome and watches the Prorsche pass by, then the wife wakes up and looks at the husband who is now driving the motorhome.

This has to be the most irresponsible stupid commercial I have ever seen. I guess Porsche is going after dumb-asses.

swschrad

the problem is, they are going after the type of Darwin loser that takes others out with him/her/it. they need to target the solitary Darwin losers.

have not seen the ad. would be livid if I had.

swschrad

motorhomes are big old windfronts that want to sway all over the road like a weathervane in every little wind. for one to allegedly stay stable in the aforementioned stupid cayenne ad would be most unusual, most unusual. that's the motorhome I want to buy. anybody see what kind it was ?? screw the porsche, I want to pursue that motorhome !!

logic1

Where the Bobby pulls over the young American guy in the desert southwest is well done.

peter78

I saw the Porsche commercial quite a few times during the football play-off games. Each time I saw it and the husband leaves the wheel of the motorhome going 50 MPH and going to the back of the home, the more annoyed I become.

As far as to what brand of motorhome it is, I have no idea. It is big, two tone paint. I know quite a bit about cars, but I know absolutely squat about motorhomes. I can't help you as to what brand it was.