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

ateixeira

Still not on there this morning when I looked.

-juice

john_324

Anyone seen the new Hummer ad, the one with the guy buying tofu, carrots and other "wimp food" ( ) at the supermarket? Watching said purchases being scanned at the checkout, he decides that he best run on down the local Hummer dealership and purchase an H2 to "even things out" and make him a man again.

So it's finally come to this...SUV ads coming right out and saying what they previously only insinuated: "this vehicle will make you a MAN!"

Jeeze...what's next? An ad with a Hummer trying to run over Al Gore?

fintail

That's the one I saw too.

If anything, I have to give them kudos for finally being honest.

astegman

Those new Hummer ads - the male and female version - have been playing in the NY metro area for quite a while now. They were mildly amusing at first, but after a while...

Interestingly, the tagline for the male ad changed. The tagline originally was "Reclaim your manhood," and now it's "Restore the balance." I think the background music changed as well.

The female version is a touch more bearable, to me. My husband and I were curious about the song that's used and thanks to Google, etc., we found several different versions. It's actually a pretty cool song whose name escapes me at the moment. More than one artist has covered it. Since we are avid dog lovers and have a nice big Lab, we especially like the last few lines: "Left some biscuits for the pup/ put fresh water in his cup..."

But yes, the overall message of both commercials is pathetic. If you need a car - or any inadimate object, for that matter - to make you feel more secure about yourself, well...good luck with that!

fintail

On the print ad front, a local dealer has an 03 F350 with "only" 91K miles on it. Was it used as a taxi or a police car?

atlvibe

Volkswagen has a particularly irritating television ad at present. It show a couple on the showroom floor. The salesman mumbles "lease for nuthin" or implies something of that nature. The couple intern jabber at each other while the salesman beings to robot dance. I have yet to understand the point of the commercial. Furthermore, the facial features of the salesman character I find just down right scary or obnoxious. This ad was followed by a Vonage ad. The juvenile theme song at the end those commercials makes we not want their service. Thank Goodness for TIVO.

john_324

The whole "lease for notten" campaign probably needs to be retired. It's just dumb, and only "Mr. Opportunity" makes it seem tolerable in comparision...

Not to stray from the topic, but I like the Vonage ad with the guy in the lobster suit in the background...the Salvador Dali feel and utter disconnection with the ad's focus makes it priceless.

carguybob

I just checked Chrysler's site for the details, since I couldn't believe the "catch" on the 30 day return could be that bad. Guess what? It is! There is a restocking fee of 5% of MSRP plus $0.50 per mile. On a car that lists for $30,000, it would cost you $2000 to return the car if you drove it the typical 1000 miles a car is driven in a month. Holy cow! If you financed the vehicle for 60 months at 0% APR with nothing down, your monthly payment would be only $500 even if you paid sticker for the car! Plus the "returner" is on the hook for any "finance and insurance" costs. IIRC, this would include whatever loan origination fees there were. Man, IMO this is close to a sham!

michaellno

Yep, quite the contrast when compared to the Saturn 30 day return program ... when they had it, that is.

lemko

Sham maybe, but it certainly will repel the idea of getting a Dodge SRT-8 Hemi and pounding it with the intention of returning it in 30 days.

rockylee

It would be like a cheap rental car, wouldn't it lemko :P

Rocky

atlvibe

I just watched a new Chevrolet ad that was downright bizarre. It showed an really old dude dancing w/an equally old female partner. The both looked like death sucking on a lifesaver. Anyway ,it just shows them just dancing. Then in bold type it announces Chevrolet cars get 30 mpg. It's so lame it hurts. Seeing old people dance in polyester clothing and white shoes is an eyesore. GM, why would you? Why did you? IMO, it just further portrays Chevrolet cars as old and tired. Chevy thought this was "KEWL" way to be hip and fresh ....but it comes off an eyesore. Yuck x 2 = that commercial.

anythngbutgm

Luckily this one isn't on very often but has anyone seen the "RR in Japan" one? Something about a RR Sport that drove through rush hour traffic while being 200 feet below Tokyo? I don't know how impressed I should be when they mention "Rush hour Traffic" and Range Rover in the same advertisment...

british_rover

That one is pretty cool in the way it shows the Range Rover Sports suspension articulation.

ateixeira

Note to self: do not buy a low-mileage SRT-8.

-juice

fintail

I see Mr. Opportunity has popped up in Edmunds ads...fantastic!

anythngbutgm

Has anyone seen the Mazda CX-7 ad with the hikers? Guy puts his head down and claims to hear the Mazda coming?

"Here that?... Electroluminecent guages."

lol

ateixeira

Just to annoy you! :P

-juice

fintail

Indeed

I've noticed local stations running more Saab 9-7 ads, claiming this sad shameful badge engineering is related to jets. These have to be the worst ads, for their sheer gall.

Kirstie_H

Well, like jets, they often require daily maintenance to run properly. Maybe that's what they mean.

ateixeira

As if Sven, your Swedish mechanic, has ever even seen a 4x4.

-juice

i_luv_toyota

Great, as if the regular Mr. Opportunity ads were bad enough, now Honda cranks the "Annoying Knob" up another notch by showing Mr. Opportunity "bloopers." Things like forgetting his lines and such.

What a lame attempt to try and resurrect a way too tired and annoying ad campaign.

ateixeira

Automotive News poked fun at the ads today. The account is up for renewal so they said opportunity is knocking for other Marketing firms to steal that account!

-juice

fintail

LOL I like that one

When that guy made it into print ads, it went too far.

Hey, another 3 months or so and those pretentious Lexus ads will be back!

i_luv_toyota

Hey, another 3 months or so and those pretentious Lexus ads will be back!

The "It's here, but not forever" ads on currently aren't much better. And, in my area at least, they air them twice a break!

Can't wait until September 4th, when the "not forever" part of those ads takes place.

odie6l

And don't forget the Christmas Ads will be starting up soon. At least they are not as bad as Hallmark at cramming the holiday's down our throats. But I did notice the other day during one of the NFL games the Caddy Ad where the 3 vehicles drive into the snowy scene and come out with the christmas tree (and yes it's a CHRISTMAS Tree, not a National Tree.)

Odie
Odie's Carspace

snapcracklepop

I do like the RR in rush hour toyko ad
Never liked the Mr.Opportunity ads

I've yet to see the Hummer restore the balance ones, I'll try to google those

ateixeira

Once again the Subaru ads have been overplayed. First it was the "Dust in the Wind" Tribeca ads, now it the Cheryl Crow's "Every Day is a Winding Road".

They need more variety. I'm annoyed and I'm a Subaru fan!

-juice

anythngbutgm

At least Cheryl Crow is tolerable. Have you seen the "Feel the Freedom" sitcom ads yet? Now THOSE are obnoxious...

Luckily the only ads we get in N.E. now are the usual summer clearance ads.

i_luv_toyota

Never really did like Sheryl Crow's music overall, so I always thought Subaru made a terrible choice in picking one of her [sarcasm]musical masterpieces[/sarcasm] to be the theme song of their ads.

As far as "Feel The Freedom" ads, we get those here in CT, but I think they are regional because I always see them advertised with the phrase "New England Subaru Dealers." The high pitched shrill of the woman singing the song kills my hearing nearly everytime, so yes thankfully they only appear during seasonal clearances.

british_rover

All new england subbie stores buy their subarus from Northeast subaru much like how all Southeastern Toyota dealers by their toyotas from Southeast Toyota.

Really has a huge lnfluence on the price of the vehicles nad the advertising.

ateixeira

I have not seen the Feel the Freedom ads here in the Mid Atlantic. Of course I have TiVO so I miss lots of ads, so who knows.

-juice

lemko

...ever see the Cadillac ads with a jewely crafting a Cadillac crest from various gems? Kind of like this one because it reminds me of how Cadillac used fine jewelry in its print ads from the late 1940s through the early 1960s.

michaellno

I've seen that commercial; I really like it.

fintail

I'll have to keep an eye out. I do know of those print ads, when I was a kid I used to seek out boxes of old National Geographics at yard sales and cull out the car ads.

thenebean

i like the nissan versa ones, done in a spoof of the pharmacutical companies with things like claritin, etc. the ones for curing claustrophobia are so silly!

nissan used to have really great commercials in the 90's...hopefully they get back to them (the versa one is a good start i think!)

snapcracklepop

I like the versa ads too and I really liked honda fit ads, the fit is go!

badgerfan

Did anyone see the recent Toyota truck ad where the truck is sitting on a rocky beach, the tide comes in and the waves indundate the truck, rolling it over at least once, possibly tossing it against a rock outcrop as well, then the tide recedes, the truck is miraculously left upright and someone gets in it and drives it away.

How stupid do they really think truck buyers are? I have noticed stupid truck ads at times from all the manufacturer's, but this one seemed particularly inane.

ateixeira

Haven't seen that one, but is it from the same series of ads where the angry ex girlfried pushes it off a cliff and it gets the bottom unscathed?

-juice

british_rover

Not only is it stupid it is not even original...

Top Gear already did it.

Unbreakable

Really Unbreakable

carlisimo

Speaking of car commercials, how about that upcoming Transformers movie GM advertisement?

It seems all the car-based characters are losing their identities and becoming GM vehicles.

Bumblebee: loveable yellow VW bug -> Camaro (old, then later a 2009)
Jazz: Porsche 935 -> Solstice
Ratchet: Ambulence -> puke green rescue Hummer
Ironhide: Vanette (later a Ford pickup) -> GMC Topkick

And just to top it off, they've created a Decepticon character who's a Saleen Mustang to go up against the 2009 Camaro. Most contrived product placement scene ever!

When product placement changes characters completely (but we're supposed to pretend they're the same ones), it's gone way too far.

british_rover

Ughh.

That is disapointing but almost makes sense.

The original transformers was just a 30 minute commercial for the Transformer toys.

fintail

An 80s-junk obsessor at work told be about the GM commercial posing as 'Transformers'...pretty sad. I hope this thing flops. Maybe it should be called 'GoBots', if you know what I mean. So lame it hurts. Shame on the marketing oafs, shame on GM.

Speaking of dumb ads, a local Hyundai store has a print ad featuring "Carmen Elantra" and "Frank Sonata". I guess my mom is their copy writer.

carlisimo

"Maybe it should be called 'GoBots', if you know what I mean."

good one :P

anythngbutgm

That is just sad... Talk about desperate cry's for limelight. I hope the movie bombs.

astegman

What about the new ads with the cheesy magician, who is able to "magically" make the HUMMER (H3?) bypass the gas station - with a voiceover boasting of 20 mpg.

I know it's supposed to be cheesy/sleazy on purpose, but I think they overdid it!!

ateixeira

Reminds me of the Bobble Head ads for the Jeep Compass. In one it keeps driving by the gas station, and the owner shakes his head saying "no". Then it stops once but still doesn't get gas (soda or something).

Gets the point across that this Jeep is not a gas guzzler, but it only had me thinking that the other Jeeps are!

-juice

odie6l

I do remember Citroen having a commercial over in the UK for the c3 that has the car transform then do a dance. It was kinda cool, but I'm not looking forward to the new transformers movie (even shuddering at thinking about the upcoming Disney Starblazers Movie).

Odie
Odie's Carspace

Kirstie_H

Moving the conversation over here...

If a commerical comes out touting airbags, would you say they are promoting unsafe driving behaviour because the drivers might feel invincible? If they tout a new structural design leading to much better crashworthiness, does that make viewers feel invincible?

My point exactly. The Jetta commercials do just that, and I haven't noticed an increase in deliberate VW crashes. Almost every ad these days has an element of "fantasy" regarding the vehicle's capabilities - see "transformer" conversation just before this. Anyone think the car can actually transform? Thought not.

With TiVO and the handy "mute" button on most remotes, it's nigh-on impossible to get consumers to watch commercials as it is. If we admonished manufacturers to present ads that ONLY demonstrate a vehicle's real-life capabilities, the ads will be total yawners and placing them will represent a waste of manufacturers' ad dollars.

british_rover

I agree but there is also a limit to how far you can go with that.

Like the GL450 commercial Stretching things...

I mean come on that is just going to far. The VW ads are great because the car really does get smashed up.

Or ghis G500 commercial