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

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Comments

  • ripinrocketripinrocket Member Posts: 157
    The Lexus SC430 ads in French are quite ridiculous.

    English please.?

    I love the new Mitsu Eclipse ad with the music and the girls going along with the music while sitting in the car.

    Cadillac ads are lame. What is the "power of &"?
  • seminole_kevseminole_kev Member Posts: 1,696
    ...with the guy who's desperatly trying to get to a wedding. They keep cutting back and forth between the bride getting ready and him desprately trying to get there. And when he finally get there, he's not the groom. They leave you waiting for what he has to say to the bride. Cool mini-movie commercial if you ask me. Unless of course I over Analyzed it and he's just an usher!

    Good music too.

    P.S. anyone no where I can download that commercial?
  • ripinrocketripinrocket Member Posts: 157
    some more bad ones: All Infiniti Ads.
    Nissan pads: Can't stand the Pathfinder ads where it's in in a coliseum with a bull. or on a cliffside playing polo. Not to mention the Maxima skidding sideways across a desert in every ad.

    Chrysler ads are pretty lame too. Dodge=Different. What is that?

    GM ads are basically all ridiculous. every Buick ad it seems like is advertising cut-rate lease deals and near ZERO percent finance rates.

    The Isuzu ad with Joe Isuzu dismantling a Highlander in the parking lot is also quite weak.

    Mazda's "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom" ads are the worst. Very annoying.

    Good ads:

    The lexus LS430 spots are pretty good.

    BMW generally makes some good ads.

    Benz has some good ads for the M-class(even though the actual product stinks).

    the Subaru WRX ads are good.
  • lancerfixerlancerfixer Member Posts: 1,284
    ...in another forum. The VW Cabrio ad where the kids are going to the party at night. I'd say that's one of the best car ads ever. It really captured the fun of driving a convertible on a warm summer night. Made me wanna run out and get one.
  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Member Posts: 1,331
    I really don't know what a good ad is and what a bad ad is. I just know what I like and I don't like.

    I really like the Mazda Zoom Zoom ads. I like the music and the kid is cute. Not really a fan of the cars though. I find them lacking in styling.

    I really hate the ads for the car I own which is the Toyota Echo. Number one there are not enough of them and number two, the ones they do have are lame. For example, shaking your tail at a gas station (and the people filling up there). Come on.

    Ads should inspire us or should make us feel something. Should make us remember the product.
  • ineto6ineto6 Member Posts: 161
    I saw an ad last night that I thought was a Porsche 911 - it turned out to be a commercial for Applied Materials - argghhhh, they got my initial attention.
  • bdreggorsbdreggors Member Posts: 143
    You mean you don't shake your groove thang at gas customers?? ;-)

    I really wish there would be some more Bonneville ads; I'd like to see my car in action!

    The "New Q" commercials are getting on my nerves, too...especially that avant-guarde Eurotrash guy telling traffic to yield and lights to turn green.

    Oh, and does anyone wonder why Cadillac changed the "Power of &" campaign? Its becuase the amphersand (&) is completely foreign in some other countries. More like "The Power of ?".
  • jkidd2jkidd2 Member Posts: 218
    Yeah, I agree on the new "Q" commercial...similar to the Acura campaign...I hate all those "aren't we beautiful, rich and sophisticated?" type commercials....show me the car....not "the lifestyle"!
  • ripinrocketripinrocket Member Posts: 157
    The TL TYpe S commercials are pretty good with the guy zooming up to Maine from New York for lunch.

    Alot of VW ads are really good.
    -Jetta commercial where the guy is reading the owner's manual than goes into his house and yanks his wife out to show her that the windows roll down from the outside is funny!

    -The one where the guy parks his VW outside of a supermarket and then a cart starts rolling towards his car and he comes out lunging and knocking over the cart is hilarious.

    All of the New Beetle ads I hate though. Advertising stupid colors like Plutonium this, and Uranium this, and Kryptonite that.
  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Member Posts: 1,331
    I don't shake my groove thang at anyone, much less gas customers. ; )
  • bdreggorsbdreggors Member Posts: 143
    My periodic table must be out-of- date because I don't see 'Turbonium' on there at all! :-)
  • ripinrocketripinrocket Member Posts: 157
    That's alot of made up names from me.

    hehe.
  • ravvie4meravvie4me Member Posts: 110
    First of all, those MDX spots showing that hideous beast going off road. Stupid, rediculous, and a hoax all at the same time!

    The Honda commercial with the "breath in, breath out (repeated a couple of times), now THAT'S low emissions baby!" while showing an Accord driving through a field of flowers. Ya, so what, everything else is these days (low emissions)!

    And what about the new Pathfinder "not that you would but you could" ad with a bull fighter holding a red flag from inside the Pathfinder while driving around the ring? I think Nissan just gave up...
  • bdreggorsbdreggors Member Posts: 143
    Yeah...I agree about that. The polo one was cute for a while, but it got tired. All those Nissan commercials strike me as really lame, especially the ones with the chief designer. He ain't Lee Iacocca and he'll never be!

    BTW: New Axiom commercial where Volvo Cross-Country owners back into Joe Isuzu. Pretty funny if you see it!
  • chevytruck_fanchevytruck_fan Member Posts: 432
    these stupid BMW film things completely suck, man they a annoying.
  • hiwaysanityhiwaysanity Member Posts: 216
    you say that about anything to do with BMW.
  • navy4navy4 Member Posts: 44
    You did say a "periodic" table. When was the last time it was issued?
  • chevytruck_fanchevytruck_fan Member Posts: 432
    you like watching a commercial based on a small webcast poorly made movie?

    I have said something good of BMW at some point I'm shure, oh yeah they are a smart company cause they use GM trannies lol
  • tj_610tj_610 Member Posts: 132
    I agree with ripinrocket above, the Mitsubishi ads rock. "Start the commotion!" Doesn't make me want an Eclipse, but it does make me want to dance. BTW, that song is by a group called the Wiseguys, I think.

    Other good ads? Well, I admit to a guilty pleasure. I really liked the first Kia commercial with the guy admiring his own car...you know, "It is, isn't it?" But it got old really fast, and the 2nd one at a wedding is annoying.

    Going back a couple of years, the Nissan ad with GI Joe picking up Barbie at the townhouse, with an aghast Ken left in the dust, all with Van Halen rocking--now THAT was a car ad!

    How about the ad for the Mercedes ML55, with 5 guys all shoving back in a huge sling shot? Liked that, too.

    One of the coolest ever, but I can't remember which car (I guess that's makes the ad a failure), is the one where you are constantly changing perspective. You are on a train, watching the car, then you're in the car, then you're part of a model train set -- you know which one I mean? Was that the Olds Intrigue?

    OK, my least favorites. That initial Infiniti guy--he needed to be smacked. I am REALLY sick of the Chevy commercial (Tahoe?) with the models in Alaska or somewhere carrying around the removable seats. Give me a break. The Nissan Frontier -- kicks gluteus maximus? Get that overgrown Tonka piece of crap out of here!!! BTW, I agree that one of history's most laughable ads was the sexy portrayal of the guy in the Camry. What really topped it off was the guys expression at the end. "Yeah, I deal with this every day. Ho Hum."
  • fischdafischda Member Posts: 272
    I really like the Mitsubishi radio campaign with the gruff-voiced telemarketer who makes "wakeup calls" to unsuspecting potential Mitsu buyers! He's funny!

    And while I've digressed to radio, I know they're not car ads, but those Budweiser "Real American Heros" ads are the best out there!!
  • ineto6ineto6 Member Posts: 161
    tj_610 - it was a Lincoln LS commercial

    I like the new Q45 ad where the guy drives backward and using his rear camera.
  • lancerfixerlancerfixer Member Posts: 1,284
    Agreed about the Bud ads. My personal favorites are "Mr. Giant Foam Finger Maker" and "Mr. Bass Plaque Maker." I'm actually kinda glad that Bud is such a bad beer...in order to sell it, they've made some of the best advertising ever.
  • tincup47tincup47 Member Posts: 1,508
    BMW's use ZF automatic transmissions
  • ripinrocketripinrocket Member Posts: 157
    tincup47,

    The BMW 328i & 528i use GM designed & built automatic transmissions. And I believe the 323's 2.5L was mated to a GM automatic also.
  • tincup47tincup47 Member Posts: 1,508
  • robertrrobertr Member Posts: 125
    The one with the guy driving a Lexus showing a close-up of him manually shifting his automatic transmission and then getting out of the car at the red light, bending over and panting! This is bound to sell a lot of Lexi to real driving enthusiasts (sarcasm).
  • ineto6ineto6 Member Posts: 161
    Interesting one - Nissan Xterra with Jimi Hendrix in the background.
  • fischdafischda Member Posts: 272
    ineto6 - Good action and film effects, but the music is actually Stevie Ray Vaughn covering Jimi's VooDoo Chile.

    lancerfixer - Mr. Bowling Shoe Giver Outer, Mr. Wrecking Ball Operator...
  • chevytruck_fanchevytruck_fan Member Posts: 432
    lol they are playing 30 year old music trying to appeal to the young people, maybe they can play some horrible music with a lot of swear words and have some women dancing around, then they could really sell to the young people.
  • ineto6ineto6 Member Posts: 161
    fischda - as Johnny would have said "I did not know that!"

    ok, here's an amusing one - MB cars surrounding a Harley on an empty stretch of road.
  • fischdafischda Member Posts: 272
    Courtroom scene: Divorce procedings, I thought.

    Lawyer: "And where was your wife that evening, sir?"

    Plaitiff: "She was out all night with the Grand Marquis!"

    Audience: *Gasps*

    Camera cuts to an English gent in the gallery wearing a frilly suit and a white powdered wig!
  • chevytruck_fanchevytruck_fan Member Posts: 432
    saw the latest BMW film commercial, at the start they show a guy in a GMC yukon or Yukon XL, they cant even use their own sport ute in the commercial, I didn't get it
  • tj_610tj_610 Member Posts: 132
    Thanks, ineto6, Lincoln LS it was. Since you quoted Johnny, here's Ed right back atcha..."You are correct, sir!!!"

    Discussion of Voodoo Chile above reminded me of a Mitsu Montero Sport ad a year or two ago. Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" while it tears through the desert! I actually have a friend who almost bought one solely because of that ad.

    Segue to bad music. I can't decide if the MB ML320 ad showing crash tests with a choir-like version of "Staying Alive" is powerful or just plain morbid. Help me out here, folks!
  • bdreggorsbdreggors Member Posts: 143
    It conjures up an image of the "Sister Act" movies, if you catch my drift!
  • ineto6ineto6 Member Posts: 161
    Hmm... I haven't seen that MB ML320 ad - maybe it wasn't that memorable, but a choir version of Stayin' Alive? Good God !!!
  • melangemelange Member Posts: 1
    Anyone seen the new GEICO add where the man gets in his car and drives out of a grocery store parking lot and he's followed by a grocery cart with a shaky front wheel? It ends up chasing him around town. Probably the funniest commercial I have seen in a very long time!
  • ajvdhajvdh Member Posts: 223
    It's not a choir, it's the original Bee Gees song with all the instrument tracks removed.
  • ineto6ineto6 Member Posts: 161
    Oh I see, the unplugged version.
  • tj_610tj_610 Member Posts: 132
    Maybe it's the pre-castration recording the Gibbs brothers did before the version that made it into the movie.
    BTW, has anyone ever seen a TV spot for the Land Cruiser? I've seen magazine ads, but never a TV ad. Even on Toyota's recent SUV "sell-a-thon" ad, they mention and show everything BUT the LC. Is this Toyota's way of maintaining the vehicle's mystique, or, as an ad exec might say, "brand cache"? Reminds me of Dodge last year, when they made a point that every Dodge car and truck was marked down...except the Viper.
  • prophet2prophet2 Member Posts: 372
    '60s Volkswagen Bug: "While it won't float indefinitely, it will definitely float."

    Jeep: advertising executives from an unidentified competitor meet at a mountain-top to check the vista, but can't get there with a 4WD other than a "Jeep."
  • ajvdhajvdh Member Posts: 223
    The good: The "school's out" ad for the 944. It was a clip of a 944 in a full opposite lock slide, shot in agoninzing slow motion, with the Alice Cooper song blasting in the background.

    The bad: The current 911 ad where the girl keeps missing her bus, so dad has to drive her to school in the 911. It's a cute commercial, but this girl, who appears to be about 10, sits in the front seat. Hello! Ever read that warning sticker on the dashboard? The one that warns about the effect an airbag can have on a "small" passenger?
  • lancerfixerlancerfixer Member Posts: 1,284
    I was always under the impression that she was about 12 or 13...of course, that makes the commercial even more unrealistic. Like she'd be talking to her dad!
    Also, ever notice in that commerical the brown autumn leaves on the road the Porsche drives through...take a look at the trees surrounding the road.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,023
    where else is the girl gonna sit? Porsches don't have back seats, they have leather-upholstered, contoured "package shelfs" ;-)

    -Andre
  • panamaltd2panamaltd2 Member Posts: 162
    I love the zoom-zoom ads! Awhile back a guy said he liked the Mazda ads but thought the products lacked style...uhm....he drives a Toyota Echo. Need I say more?!
  • crkeehncrkeehn Member Posts: 513
    I don't know how it sells cars but I like the ad, with the voiceover talking about 21 days without deoderant and the driver spraying air freshener on the sleeping navigator.
  • megasuvownermegasuvowner Member Posts: 64
    how can anyone like those commercials? they are so annoying? zoom zoom zoom shut up!!
  • cyranno99cyranno99 Member Posts: 419
    I don't care for the Caddy Escalade commercial where there are explosions and a mechanical beast - are potential buyers of that car afraid of the real world?
  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    Those Maxima commercials where the car keeps accelerating from 0-60 over and over just to chase the sunset.

    Also liked the commercials for what I believe was th Suzuki SUV, which obviously parodied Ford's Excurion. Images of a compact 4-door SUV sliding smoothly through traffic and fitting into tight parking spots were interspersed with scenes of the owner of an unnamed jumbo SUV, usually female, performing such daunting tasks as gathering herself for the leap from the driver's seat to the tarmac way below, or jumping up and down in an effort to get a hold of the rear hatch so she could close it. I thought these were very funny and got the message behind the product across very well.

    Ones that annoy me: Commercials for the new Dodge Caravan, where all they do is mention that it has a sliding front center console over and over and over again. Isn't there ANYTHING else good about the van?

    Any commercial for front wheel drive vehicles doing power slides. Just looks unnatural to me.

    Also... why the heck does everybody and their mother seem to build the car that leads the JD Power and Associates Initial Quality Survey?
  • hiwaysanityhiwaysanity Member Posts: 216
  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    Like you could build vehicles that need one or more transmission replacements withn their first 50-60 thousand miles like Chrysler does and still somehow be the best in the survey.
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