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

anythngbutgm

From a side view it looks like a Lamborghini, but from the front, the lights are too wrong to be a Diablo. Actually, to tell you the truth, I don't think its a real car, as the slice is WAY too perfect, although I'm probably pointing out the obvious...

I actually like the new Durango commercial, with the father telling the son "Only one thing that matters..." with the kid responding "Hemi". Cute.

swschrad

them's computers, folks. the only thing that got sliced was the actor's face when he pulled the razor sideways by mistake

gambit293

Well, obviously they didn't actually slice a supercar worth 100k+. But my assumption was that the CGI car was at least modeled after an actual one.

nvbanker

getting tired of the Durango ad!!!! Stop it please, Chrysler!!!!

andys120

They are advertising their new G35 AWD Sedan in commercials that feature traffic consisting of various anonymous cars wearing tire chains on what appear to be dry, sunny California days.

The spoken copy refers to the G35's AWD system as having the advantages on AWD but not the disadvantages because it engages only when needed
(presumably a part-time "on demand" system possibly Haldex).

Now there are some disadvantages to full time AWD systems like the one in my car (Audi's Quattro) namely increased tire wear and decreased mileage but the cars wearing chains imply that full-time awd delivers poor ride and handling on dry roads--THAT IS NOT THE CASE.

  Nissan/Infiniti need to re-think the entire premise of this ad and sell the advantages of AWD, not the supposed superiority of their system which IMO is unlikely to be better than other good systems.

nine51

After seeing about a dozen Hemi ads every night, maybe I'm just watching too much TV!

Gotta start tapeing my favorite shows and FF thru the ads.

nvbanker

They may drive me to get TIVO!

PF_Flyer

Just saw a Honda commercial.. split screen, cars on the left, owners on the right... the gimmick was that the owners and their cars looked alike... clever... gave the wife and myself a chuckle. Don't know if it will become annoying, but i bet they try to make it so!



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swschrad

just can't get that metalflake two-color blue/green look to my skin, no matter what I eat....

odie6l

I have no idea what I was watching, but it started out like any Normal HUMMER add with the H2 driving in the straight line across a snowwy opening, Then the Hummer fell through what seemed like thin ice. Just then a Grand Cherokee Pulls up to the hole, the driver looks out see a Ice Fishing - BEWARE THIN ICE! sign and looks down at the hole again and says "I told him he was too heavy." The Jeep just drove off and the commercial ended saying "When you need to be light on your feet - Tread Lightly." I laughed for about 1/2 hour, and it was even worth my 7mnth waking up.

Odie
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swschrad

the most elementary precaution of ice driving. incidentally, if he went right by a fresh open hole in the ice, he was twice as much an idiot as the yutz that went in. that hole, and the almost certain radial cracks from it, seriously weakened the ice around it for a fair distance.

remember, at least a foot of ice in stable low-flow areas before you drive.

a message from Willy Walleye... because floating noses taste terrible.

odie6l

I saw it again during The X-files on TNT (reruns) at 1am. And it's not an add for either Jeep or Hummer..it was actually an add for the Tread Lightly program (which of corse Jeep is a major sponsor)

Of corse at the bottom of the screen (in very small writing) said "Dramatization - Do not try at home!"

And it was JUST as funny as it was the 1st time. Wonder if it will come on during the Superbowl.

Odie
My Homepage

swschrad

costs as much to run one ad in the superbowl as it does to run 200 ratings points worth in any large city.

tmart

was driving on a cool looking suspension bridge and the cables vibrated as the SUV went by. Does anyone know if this is a real bridge, and if so, where it is?

andys120

Leonard P Zakim/Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston but there are other new suspension bridges that use that type of construction. The "Zak" is a beautiful bridge.

stormdavy

Not to start anything non-PC, but-- the PT Cruiser ad on the back of my 12/8 Auto Week sports a red flame decal which, if you squint could be seen to spell out the word satan at the bottom. The a-t-a, at any rate are very clear, the S and N kind of go up in horns or flames. Wooooo...spooky!

Well, as the ad says: It has a polarizing effect on everyone. However most likely this was unintentional, right?

swschrad

if you also see "sex" spelled out in the ice cubes in advertisements, and you hear the devil talking when you spin records (what are they?) backwards, there's a reason

myself, I take a regular allowance from the Illuminati, and I see nothing wrong at all :-D

( have to find a copy and look at the ad... )

stormdavy

Ford's Freestar van ad grabs me. Looks low-budget: a "regular guy" knowledgeable engineer, explains the idea behind torque; how it is important and how that is what you want in a minivan, and the Freestar has it.

Nothing flashy: no elite "sprockets"-types prancing around Infinitis and Lexuses, just a straightforward nuts and bolts plain-spoken pitch that also manages to inform.

wep68

I am about the age of the people on those ads and I dont have a big house, nor a lexus. Ergo, I feel like a turd when i watch those ads. Thing is, I do have enough $ to buy a lexus and the ads kind of make me want to buy one.... so I guess the ads work

lemko

Anybody who lives in Southern New Jersey or the Philadelphia area must have seen the "Triplex-zilla" ads for a Mitsubishi dealer in Cherry Hill, NJ. It shows a garguntuan salesman breathing fire and emitting Godzilla noises while waving his arms and stomping his feet. A voice-over announces "Triplex-Zilla crushes the competition!"

ab348

I really dislike those Ford Freestar ads with Rick Titus, whoever the heck he is. Supposedly some sort of radio car show host. How can he ever have any credibility after selling out to Ford? Plus he comes across as a nerd. Not good.

I see Saturn has dropped its touchy-feely ads for the Ion in favor of something even worse. Now they hae an Ion driven by clowns in pursuit of other clowns. What sort of message is that sending to current/prospective Ion owners? Do you have to be a clown to want one? Yikes. It's becoming more clear every day that GM should have axed Saturn and kept Oldsmobile.

kenjabi

The one with the guy who was born with his right foot bigger than his left. Shows him growing up and the effects of a large foot, then at the end he's grown up and driving a Jetta. Voiceover says how the Jetta "just fits" for some people. It's a pretty good ad, IMO.

The funny thing is, it seems every time that ad comes on and I'm with other people, they all stop what they're doing to watch it. Maybe it's the piano playing in the background music. Whatever it is, I guess it serves its purpose well then!

andre1969

where various people in their upper 30's run into themselves at the age of 18 or so, and the 18 yo version starts ragging on them for getting a minivan.

The first one I saw had a woman running into an '80's version of herself, about as gag-me-with-a-spatula and to-the-max as it gets. Saw another version last nite, where a guy runs into his 18-year old alter ego. I cracked up when the young guy looks in the back of the Odyssey, and with a naughty grin compliments "Hey, big back seat!"

ny540i6

Delivery adds where the dealer manager looks at the mud spattered 4X4 and asked the hauler driver "You didn't try one, did you?" Makes me wonder how I would last in that job.

swschrad

they have a recognizeable product and they keep reinforcing the message with one clever little schtick after another.

VW tries it, too, but they don't get to me. they did in the 60s and 70s.

toyota/honda/lexus/acura ads, in my personal humble opinion, purely do antagonize with their little implied petty back-of-the-hand manner.

maybe because it's because I can't be using the wrong fork if it gets the food to me....

carguy58

I like when the guy hugs the Rx-8. I guess Mazda used somebody from the VW ad agency.

I like the Durango commercial.

Toyota does too many commercials. How many commercials are you going to put on TV? I get sick of it after awhile.

I don't like in your face or chessy commercials. They turn me off and annoy me.

If anybody lives in the NJ/NY area there is the Mercedes-Benz commercial where a couple goes to JFK Airport and they are supposed to go to to LaGraudia. As soon as they show up at JFK Airport they find out they have to go to LaGraudia and they drive off real fast. I don't get what that commercial was about.

rctennis3811

Has anyone seen the commercial for the Accord in Europe? You can see it on the UK Honda site, and since it was so ingenious they featured it on 20/20 once. It's the commercial where it shows every part of the Accord (suspensions, engine parts, gears, screws, etc.) all rolling a gear. It looks like a very expensive commercial to make!

swschrad

darned good commercial. much better take on the classic old falling-dominoes ad than the recent beer ad with falling people.

lemko

...are the one for the Honda Odyssey that shows the man and woman seeing their past selves when they were 18 disdaining them for considering a minivan. Their fashions and the background music suggests the early 1980s meaning these ads are focused at my age group! If my past self saw my present self considering a mininvan, he'd shoot me and consider it mercy killing! Fortunately, my taste in cars has remained consistent.

anythngbutgm

While I am not a fan of GM, the new ad campaign with the cars and trucks driving onto the moving carrier are pretty slick. Love the end shot with the SSR roaring up to the truck, pulling the Hollywood and (supposedly) rolling onto the truck, backwards. Does it make me want to buy the crap? Nope. But my hats off to the marketing dept. for a really cool commercial. Nice job in my opinion.

rctennis3811

Though I don't know Japanese, their car commercials always seem pretty cool, better than the American ones! It's always set in California, with a Cali license plate and a white family driving the car. The Mazda Premacy commercial showed an American family racing with their Premacy. The R34 Skyline used to have a commercial with a white teenager drag racing his car against a Corvette in what looks to be L.A. Why don't they usually use Japanese people?? Anyways, their commercials usually have upbeat music, nice graphics, and shows the comfort and sport side of any car.

ab348

That is one great ad. Too bad they included the Aveo in it though since it's a Daewoo, not a Chevy, and hardly an exciting car. But it was nice to see the '66 Chevelle convertible - Chevy, you should make something like that again!

fintail

When I saw that ad, I was thinking I'd pick the Chevelle over any of the new ones, save for maybe the Vette. But certainly the others.

i_luv_toyota

The song in those Odyssey ads is called "Move Out" by Yaz and is definately 80's! I thought those were kind of funny, especially for an ad from any of the Japanese car companies.

Speaking of 1980's music, has anybody seen the Saturn VUE ad that has "Word Up" by Cameo? I thought it was pretty funny (except for the prolonged view of that plastic beast's front end), especially when compared to those "he/she did the right thing" Toyotathon 25th anniversary (like who the hell was counting?!) ads!

Happy 2004 everybody! Hopefully the ad companies made a new year's resolution to stop these horrible ads. Probably not, but one can dream...

suvshopper4

I really like the Odyssey ad, with the younger, hipper woman talking to her 30-something self, especially the punch-line ending, where she (younger) blows a kiss to the hunky husband, takes back what she said to her older self, "but not about the hair!"
Funny and well done.

sdradioguy

I know this is being extra-picky, but the title of the song by Yaz (or Yazoo, if you're British) is "Situation". Nearly everyone calls it "Move Out" because that's the hook.

http://www.lyricstime.com/lyrics/33396.html

odie6l

I saw a F-150 ad last night where the Ford is pulling both a Dodge and a Chevy behind it to plow a farm field...made me last the first few times I saw it.

Odie

swschrad

the curve in the fenders will fold the turves over better. the only problem I can see is getting the ram to stay on its side...

maurcedes

car commercial was a few years ago during the Super Bowl. A couple of guys are throwing sticks and shoes up into a tree, and all of a sudden a Jetta falls out of the tree and one guy says something about letting the clutch out more slowly. It was a riot. The "New Orleans" Jetta ad was also good, with the music beat in synch with the street action. Overall VW had the best ad agency for a long while.

odie6l

from a few years back during a super bowl, but I cannot remember which car it was. It featured a car that had just been washed and the ducks / geese were trying to dive bomb it with you know what. anyway the car drives into it's garage as the fowl end up hitting the door. It was hilarious.

Odie

jaserb

Kinda cute. It shows a family driving around their Santa Fe and looking bemusedly at all the other folks on the road driving gigantic yellow steamrollers. Towing boats, filling up at the gas station, picking kids up from school, etc. The premise is something about "how big does an SUV really need to be?"

Kinda cute.

-Jason

svevar

Yes, I've seen that Santa Fe ad, and like it alot. They also have another ad in which a family loads up their Santa Fe and heads for the beach. Along the way, they pass several other houses, with the father or mother leaving for work, climbing into a Mercedes ML, Lexus RX330, and Land Rover Discovery. Seeing all of this, the child in the back seat of the Santa Fe asks, "Is today Saturday?," and the father tells him yes. Then the voiceover says something like "Spend your life—and your money—wisely." I think it's kinda ridiculous to compare the Santa Fe with the aforementioned trio of SUVs, but you get the idea, and the commercial is nicely done.

--Mark

carguy58

who has done voice-overs for the Acura commercials is now doing voice-overs for the new Jeep Liberty commercial. I don't know if anybody has noticed it but me.

Mazda has marketing has gooten alot better. The new 3 commercial looks good. Their not using the Zoom-Zoom as much as they did 2-3 years ago which was a good thing. The only thing I would complain with the new 3 commercial is they didn't list a starting price point for the car. Mazda 's website was listed at the end of the commercial so if people want to check info about the 3 out they can look it up on the net.

Also the bew Acura TL commercials look good. At least its not snobbish.

blacktalon

The commercial where the C6 Corvette (and a bunch of other new cars) drives onto the moving car carrier is the best GM ad I've seen in decades.

It's certainly a quantum leap from the "We don't suck as much as we used to!" campaign of last year...

2003tls

The reverse spin-out by the SSR (Chevy's new Sports Car/Pick-up) and backing up onto the car carrier in the commercial was impressive.

2003tls

It was definitely a Nissan - I think it was a Maxima.

intrepidspirit

has anyone noticed the voiceover on the new Lexus ad (I'm not sure which model -- but its black in the commercial). The guy sounds like he's at least 85! I guess they figure his voice will appeal to their potential customers...

carguy58

Now the average age of the core lexus Buyer would be like in their early to mid 50's.

mirth

I get annoyed every time I see that Buick commercial with the ghost of Harley Earl "advising" the Buick engineers. Especially annoying is when they're talking about designing a "new" car and he says, "Why does it have to be a car?" and we see the Buick Ranier in the background. Since the Rainer is just (another) re-badged Trailblazer I'd hardly call the stupid thing "new". Buick is just so obviously lacking in new product that the commercial is an embarrassment.

michaellno

...someone somewhere (might have been Brock Yats in C&D) pointed out that Harley was 6'5", and the guy in the commercial is probably 6' or so. Not that it's that important to be completely accurate (heck, we're talking advertising here!), but something to consider.

So, what makes a good commercial? We're all pretty good at explaining what we don't like, how about some discussion about what makes an ad memorable? Is it the music? Convincing use of humor? Parody or satire? Inquiring minds want to know.