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

crkeehn

The reading of the will in which the one son is given 150 Acres of useless swampland. After a moment of silence, he begins to celebrate. You then see the Grand Cherokee slogging through the swampland, the man and his wife with huge smiles.

leomaccord1

I haven't read through this whole forum but I am referring to the ad for the Saturn Vue. The one where the kid forgets to let go of the rope and slams into the side of the truck? O.K. so first the commercial says absolutly nothing about the vehicle (as all Saturn commercials do) but has anyone noticed after he hits the car, you hear a knocking similar to a "lower engine knock" in an engine? I wonder if GM is trying to sabotage Saturn by taking on the marketing? I mean it's blatantly obvious that the thing sounds like it's about to stall!

Very funny.

vikd

...of the "dent resistent" body panels popping back in to place after a 200 lb human smashes in to it...

Regards... Vikd

porknbeans

Come on he didn't look an ounce over 185

I agree with you about what the sound is though. Saturn commercials right now are aweful.

ab348

Right now in Canada Honda is running one called "Civic Nation". Board guidelines prevent me from describing the fleet of cars that is featured in it by its popular name - let's just say it features about a hundred Civics modified with goofy aftermarket taillights, oversized rims, rear spoilers as big as the car itself, coffee can exhausts, thumping stereos... you get the drift. And to think I was actually thinking maybe a Civic would be on my car-shopping list... I can forget that after this.

redfive2112

Like everyone else, I despise most Toyota commercials. There have been some good ones though.

1) For the Celica Speed package. The car's not moving, but the old guy yells at it to "slow down!". The other one where the dog starts to chase it and runs into it is funny too.

2) The one for the Matrix that uses the cel shading to make it look like a cartoon is cool.

3) The kids buying/selling the minivan.
"And it's got a V6 engine!"
"what's that?"
"I dunno"

-Scott

gambit293

What is it with the Toyota ads? Seems everyone either loves or hates them. The only Toyota ad that rolls my eyes is the Camry one where it is flying along the empty highway, spinning out and driving backwards. C'mon, it's just a camry!

The "Looks Fast" campaign on the celica was cute, but kinda painful for celica owners (ie ME). I swear that cops bought into it too and doled out more than their fair share of tickets to celica owners.

For me, most Honda and GM ads are annoying.

carguy58

They are playful. They don't offened me or bring a smile to my face. They are just kind of amusing.

The Chrysler ads with Celine Dion I did not like too much. It doesn't appeal to me. I don't really like Celine Dion's music that much maybe thats why the newer Chrysler ads didn't appeal to me.

andys120

Diana Krall, rather than Celine Dion in Canadian commercials. I have no idea whether she's Canadian but she's a lot nicer to listen to or look at than Celine.

swschrad

if the link didn't break (looks like it should fit), this is to an advertising site that has a link to a 4 Mb HTML english Honda commercial. they took one apart and made a Rube Goldberg device from the parts that rolls a new one down a ramp and drops a banner of introduction. it takes 2 minutes to play, and if you're on modem, forever to get... but it's a good ad. if only the Honda ads here in the colonies were as good as this...

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/features/051303.asp

i_luv_toyota

"The only Toyota ad that rolls my eyes is the Camry one where it is flying along the empty highway, spinning out and driving backwards. C'mon, it's just a camry!"

Ahhhhh, the infamous "MY CAR--CAMRY" ad.

I drive a Camry and even I agree with you.

i_luv_toyota

They have a few annoying/repetitive/etc commercials here in Connecticut that may or may not be nationwide.

1)VW Radio ads. The ones with some arrogant woman saying the phrase "Umm, actually..." and point out that a model comes with a specific feature or features.

2)Ford ads. The ones that feature a specific Ford model spinning like a tornado and stopping at certain parts of the vehicle (showing the top of the hood with the caption "more powerful engine").

3)Nissan Altima ad has some office worker jumping off balconies, sliding down escalators and bannisters (sp?) just to get to his Altima. He gets in by jumping through the driver's side front window (race car style) while on the run.

The reason why I think these are local are because they were on the YES network (local channel that broadcasts NY Yankees games) while I was watching Roger Clemens fail to get his 300th win yet again (against the Detroit Tigers too, a notoriously crappy team), but that's another story...

loncray

Dunno about the other two, but the Altima ad has been playing in the DC area for awhile now. If I tried to get in a car like that guy does I'd be in traction for months. It's similar to a Pepsi ad where the Pepsi truck drivers try to leap into the windows of their trucks - and miss.

pjyoung

"No payments for ONE clang FULL clang YEAR clang clang clang

svevar

Chrysler Canada's spokeswoman, Diana Krall, is Canadian, and better to look at, and, in my opinion, better to listen to, when compared with Celine Dion. Too bad they didn't use her in the U.S. commercials. I think the commercials are visually appealing (ie, black and white photography), but, like you, I am no great fan of Celine Dion. I also don't see how Celine can help bring the Chrysler brand upscale, whereas Diana Krall, as a jazz artist, probably could.

Here's 2 pictures I've found:
http://www.daimlerchrysler.ca/CA/03/EN/CHRYSLER/300M/home_p1_300m- .jpg

http://us.ent2.yimg.com/musicfinder.yahoo.com/images/yahoo/impuls- e/diana_krall/diana_krall_3.jpg

carguy58

Diana Krall is not really popular in the States. If Chrysler used Norah Jones as the spokeswoman in the US they might win some new buyers. Like evereybody else I don't see Chrysler winning new buyers with Celine Dion. Nothing against Celine Dion of course.

pjyoung

I doubt she'd settle for being given a lowly Chrysler to drive around in. Those ads just say to me "I'd never own one, but for the plebians, these are pretty nice".

suvshopper4

There are a couple new (?) VW ads that are edgy, but questionable.

One ad has a car owner coming out of a store to find a scary looking big guy with an Eastern-Euro accent who wants to talk about the car (a Wolfsburg). The car owner agrees he might like to hang out with scary guy, but he is obviously lying, just trying to get out of there with his car and his teeth.

The second has a guy pull up to a gas pump, and the pump jockey only wants to put the Super Plus (or some such) gas in his car, and won't go for the owner's request for just Super. Car owner winds up giving in.

The tag line is something like, "Be sure you know what you're getting into."

Dunno if this will sell cars; it might scare off potential buyers.

swschrad

better to do it as a parallel education project with the ad campaign tuned to stress everything that wasn't complained about.

Ford did well by its customers on the explorer/firestone issue, and did a good job of presenting its story as additional information in ads, news events, and features on the web. firestone did the old stonewall trick and got hurt badly until the US president stepped up to the bar and hung their after-action reports up to public view.

GM's "30 years ago we rocked, 20 years ago we sucked, now we have cars again" print ads are a little too early to judge IMHO. in this economy, they almost need to run THREE separate campaigns. ONE, overdrive/rebate ads. TWO, emphatic feature ads for each product line. THREE, the corporate-responsibility stuff about how they are improving build, repeatability, and reliability that the "30/20/now" campaign has set us up to expect.

vikd

...yup... "...get together behind the Dairy Twist..." Not a place I'd want to meet that dude!

"Be sure you know what you're getting in to..." Could be an ACTUAL warning given recent reliability issues. Pretty bad timing for a tag line like THAT...!

Regards... Vikd

vikd

...where some guys buddy throws a shoe up in to a tree and knocks down a GTI... punch line... "You should really let the clutch out slower next time..."

Pretty clever and had me chuckling...

Regards... Vikd

crkeehn

Two men blindfold a third and then shove him in the back of a Grand Prix and take off, apparently fleeing somewhere. Finally they pull off in a dark industrial area and turn to the blindfolded passenger and ask him to identify the movie car chase they just reenacted.

merc1

From reading the posts here it's pretty much agreed that Saturn's ads suck, but there is one I much mention.

There was an add in which a Black man was the owner of a Saturn dealership, where he recalls how his father was treated back in the 60's when buying a car....you know the whole racial thing......he went on to say how it isn't that way now at HIS dealership. This particular commercial almost brought tears to my eyes....the whole look of it and the backgroud music was so moving. Did anyone here see it?

M

swschrad

or maybe older, way back in early 90s when Saturn was adding to its first flight of initial dealers. I do remember that ad.

it was a good ad to sell their philosophy of not favoring Ed and screwing Joe, even if everybody paid a tad little bit extra. shoot, luxury dealers worked that way for years, but we were up to our ears in screamer ads and bait-and-switch salesmen who "just can't get this deal past the manager, but..." on the mass market.

and yes, dangit, it's just RIGHT to treat folks like you want to be treated. the Saturn class of car hasn't appealed to me, fan of frames and the ability to tow, but I respect the way they changed the landscape and finally got a marketable small car for sale within GM and treated the customers like people again.

zukeeper

It does feature a car. On the Speed channel there is a self-promo showing a tv crew about to interview a NASCAR driver. The driver asks where they want to do the interview and the interviewer replies "wherever you're comfortable." Cut to the interior of a stock car blasting around an oval while the tv guys are shrieking like schoolgirls. The next shot shows the tv guys sitting on the ground, holding each other, with their backs against the car while the driver walks away. I laugh out loud every time I see it.

swschrad

hope it was a hot track in the summer sun to melt the red out of their ties, too :-D

crkeehn

I just saw the latest iteration of the Buick ad, with Harley Earl leading a new hire through the Buick factory. As he polishes the hood/fender at the end, the large portholes are very clear.

swschrad

also left his hat behind. there are no portholes in current production buicks... in my 1976 skylark, they were styling affectations and there was no hole in the porthole.

windowphobe6

Actually, the 2003 Park Avenue has 'em.

andre1969

to actually have the ventiports on the fender, I believe, was the '84 Electra. By that time though, they were just styled into the chrome trim that ran the length of the car. The '92-96 Roadmaster did have a chrome piece on the C-pillar that was supposed to be reminiscent of the ventiports.

crkeehn

the 2003 Park Avenue Ultra comes with ventiports. Based on the description in a consumer automotive magazine, they appear to be functional as they claim to increase engine compartment airflow.

Our host review media also comments on the addition to the ventiports (thanks for identifying what they are, I just called them portholes) to the Ultra level for 2003

i_luv_toyota

I just saw this the other day and a few times since.

A guy is driving along, listening to some kind of game on the radio. When something critical comes up in the game, the guy pulls a U turn, cuts off a (semi) truck pulling way from the curb, just overall driving recklessly. Then you see him pushing buttons on his rearview mirror, which opens his garage and turns on his TV. He pulls up his driveway, with the garage door wide open, and he doesn't even pull the damn car into the garage! No, he runs through the garage door into his house, while leaving the car in the driveway! Then you see him cheering at his TV when his team wins the game.

Not only does this ad aggrevate me because of the stupid driving the guy does in order to see a game, but also leaving his car in the driveway when a empty, wide open garage is staring him in the face when he pulls up the driveway. If you weren't going to park in the garage, why open it? Couldn't you have used the front door instead? I swear, some people...

swschrad

buy a sonata now, get a TIVO free.

and a house.

I'm serious

gambit293

I don't really see the point of using Harley Earl at this point to sell cars.

Does anyone under 40 even know who he is? Is Buick trying to actually increase their average buyer age?

(I'm 25, but I looked him up because I was wondering who the heck is this guy and why should I care?)

andys120

I'm sure he'd puke all over his shoes if he saw a Rendevous or a Rainier.

PF_Flyer

Even though you didn't know who he was, the commercial made you go look him up rather than just shrug your shoulders and ignore the ad.

Curious

PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

gambit293

But only cause I'm a major car dork (and I happened to see an article about him in a magazine).

The average viewer would probably just altogether ignore the ad.

suvshopper4

I think it is a good idea to keep alive, and give wider fame to, the name of someone who insiders view as an icon. Now lots of twenty-somethings will have heard the name, too. Maybe their grandpappies can tell them about back in the day.

It was an overlooked card in their hand, and they played it. Can't hurt.

swschrad

if for no other reason than you learn some attributes of what a "car guy" has.

svevar

Has anyone seen the new Camry SE ad with some weird guy doing ridiculous maneuvers with his Camry on empty highways? The music is annoying, the guy is annoying, and the disclaimer (something like "Toyota does not condone or recommend driving in this manner") is annoying, too.

Toyota should just stop advertising altogether. I'm sure people would buy their cars anyway.

swschrad

"professional driver on real highway. we used ten cameras on this ad and still had to run 15 takes. drive like we're showing and you'll live longer. notice the shoes are laced and the seatbelt is on, no distractions, the drug tests were negative, and the radio is off."

merc1

I think the whole Harley Earl thing is about the most ridiculous thing Buick has yet done in the way of advertising. Like someone else said no young person will know who he is, or care. Yet the older crowd is probably annoyed if anything by the use of a Legend to sell today's non-legendary Buicks. Imagine..."I'm Enzo Ferrari, I'm Ferrucio Lamborghini, I'm Karl Benz, I'm Warren Bentley, I'm Henry Ford, I'm Charles Rolls, I'm Walter P. Chrysler.......and we've all come back to make you a better car. How ridiculous. Ditto for the Camry ad. That car will never provoke those feelings/actions from any of it's buyers.

M

ab348

I find the Harley Earl ads disgusting, only because no one currently at GM obviously knows anything about what he stood for - style, flash, color. All of GMs recent designs have bordered on ugly in some way or another, and their use of color is horrid. To invoke Earl to try and sell their current products is offensive to his legacy.

swschrad

Hi, I'm Jay Gould, and I'm an Historic Wall Street Skunk. I'm back to tell you about the Belchfire 666, a classic automobile for modern times. I don't care if it runs or not, but this thing can get me out of my third panic and back in the money. Look, tires, engine, fenders, what more you want? Fifty thousand of these, I got my bonus... hundred thousand units, I got capital again. You know what you gotta do, get down there today.

merc1

Someone mentioned the Lexus ads in another topic. I completely forgot about them. "Make this a Christmas to remember". These were the ones in which people were giving their wives, daughters, etc etc Lexuses wrapped in the driveway. These ads just plain stunk, as did the acting.

M

i_luv_toyota

Lexus doesn't seem to get the point that those Christmas commercials suck. If they did, they wouldn't be shown every year at Christmas time. I mean, isn't it kind of arrogant showing these (fairly expensive) cars as gifts and how it might upset some people?

If it was a cheapo car like a Corolla or Civic, I wouldn't have looked twice, but the cheapest Lexus cost at least $30K, not small beans by any means.

More bad news: The Toyota "letter" commercials are back. I'm sure you know what I'm referring to. Just when I was celebrating the end of the "Let's get this party started (and the stupid one week extention)" ads...

suvshopper4

Toyota ads must really be seen as stinkers by the car-buying public.
That's probably why they can't seem to sell any cars. What are they thinking?

swschrad

must be so they can hold flea markets on saturday afternoons to try and draw something other than flies.

seriously.... there are a LOT of fabled bad-taste ads in the history of shill-dom... but enough have stuck the bug in people's ear that they do eventually buy that item despite the nasty pitch. if that wasn't the case, every "screamer" dealer would have folded up and died after a few months, miller would have turned to dust after the wrestling babes ad, and nnnnew c-c-c-coke would have disappeared.

oh, that's right... well, some are just bad enough.

it's awfully hard to antagonize enough people to shut down toyota, honda, acura, or nissan with one sour ad campaign. CR reports on dealer experiences suggest even rejected french waiters could sell Toyotas....

odie6l

I just saw a pontiac commercial where you see the car sliding around, driving fast, skidding out. It shows the people inside and the girl smiles to the guy. They get out and she puts out the white cane. I have nothing against visually impaired person's. But it was a bad representation for the car.

Odie

swschrad

and now I know who uses the braille labels on the drive-up ATMs