Don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but there was an old 944 Turbo ad that had a Guards Red 944T at full lock on a skid pad, tires howling. The background music was Alice Cooper's "Schools Out."
The Honda CR-V ads which subtly make fun of the Nissan Xterra ads, showing someone doing some crazy "extreme" sport, then crashing, and the people with the CR-V say "that had to hurt".
The Ford Thunderbird ad which shows a sports car pull up next to the T-bird, wanting to race. The guy in the sports car has his girlfriend get out to signal the start. The sports car disappears in a cloud of dust and tire smoke. The T-bird is still sitting there and the driver asks the girl if she needs a ride. Cool.
I would have to say the most memorable ad of the last few years has to be the Jetta ad where people are moving in time to the windshield wipers and the tunes. That is an absolute classic.
Cadillac has been running a spot -- with very effective, on-the-deck, heiney-hugging, on-the-track cinematography -- with the pay-off line, "Don't you ever wonder how race car drivers get TO their race cars?" Back in the 60s, VW won more than a few awards with a commercial whose punchline was, "Don't you ever wonder how the snowplow driver gets TO the snowplow?" One may be selling high performance and the other traction, but commercial concepts just don't get any more identical than that. At least Cadillac did a very good job when executing their borrowed idea. Maybe some sort of statute of limitations on honesty has run out.
Any HONEST ad man will tell you that he will steal ANY good idea. What's bad is when you see two ads running for different products, and you can instantly tell they came from the same ad agency because they are SOOOOO similar.
As for copy-cat ads, most of you won't remember them, but the ZOOM ZOOM ads are very similar to ads that Volvo ran years ago. They had boxy Volvos coming off of a car hauler's trailer, hitting the brakes and doing a 180 degree turn, then racing down a highway veering in and out of cones and other obstacles just mere inches from each other. I had forgotten those ads 'til I saw the 'Automobiles' show that featured Volvo on the History Channel recently.
And, yeah, the ads with the kid doing something stupid, then the other kids asking, "what was he thinking?" are really good.
And, don't forget the Volkswagen "dah, dah, dah..." song. The cars are overpriced, but the commercials are excellent.
BORING award? ALL Ford trucks, ALL Dodge trucks, ALL Chevy trucks...which you see about every 90 seconds on local TV here in Texas.
And now the legal disclaimer (for realism, read this as FAST as you can): yourmileagemayvarysomeoptionsareextraseeyourdealerfordetailsnotallcustomersquailfyforlowinterestrate limitedtimeoffernotgoodinall50statesbatteriesnotincludedareyoustilreadingthis?basemodel$10,999 carshown$25,999offervoidwhereprohibitedbylaworourlawyers
Cadillac is running an ad for the CTS. It features a guy in a red and white '59 Eldorado Seville convertible weaving around congested downtown traffic (all old Caddies, in case you didn't notice) and suddenly he is on a deserted country road with the top down. Then Led Zepplin starts playing "Rock and Roll" when suddenly (ta da!) a NEW (dull gray) 2003 Cadillac CTS pulls behind it then passes it.
I guess that is supposed to make me want a new 2003 Caddy, but give me that red '59 ragtop ANYTIME over the latest 'Caddy that zigs'!
PAman, that's a good point - the ad agencies create these ads, not the car companies. Some people let their brand fanaticism get in the way - they hate an ad because they hate "brand x". If the same ad was pitched to "their" brand, they'd probably love it.
The VW Jetta ad, where everything is moving in sync to the wipers and the music, makes me think of an old Plymouth ad I saw once. It was for the 1968 models, and had a catchy jingle. I think they called it the "Plymouth beat goes on or something like that", but they had wiper blades, turn signals, the fender-mounted turn signal indicators, lights flashing, people closing doors and trunks and hoods, EVERYTHING going in tune with the groovy music.
I kinda like that Caddy CTS ad, although I'll admit it makes me want the '59 Eldorado more than the CTS too! I could almost see a spoof of this ad, where the '59 Caddy hunts down the CTS out in the desert, along the lines of Steven Spielberg's "Duel" (just replace the Valiant and the tanker truck)
I've seen this ad a ton of times, but I'm not sure if it's been mentioned here yet:
Ad for Dodge Ram, where there's a runaway boat on a trailer rolling down a mountain-side road. Boat almost hits Ram head-on, them Ram turns around, gets in front of boat, hitches boat to rear (while moving) and pulls over. Then an RV with broken chains on back drives by and woman says, "Hey they have a boat just like ours!"
Question: How did the boat get IN FRONT of them in the first place???
I saw an oldie but goodie last night - the one for the VW Cabriolet where the kids are driving along a moonlit road, then they arrive at a party, but they decide just to keep on driving. I like the music in that ad.
Yeah, I saw that VW ad for the first time last night as well (you must've been watching the NBA Finals too!). Also saw the Chrysler Sebring comm where the guy is looking for a tie to wear, but almost all of them had rips on the bottom, finally finds a good one, then you see him driving away in his Sebring convert, tie flapping like a wind sock!
...the one where the kids with the Cabriolet decide to just hang out in the car instead of going to the party. Actually reminds me a bit of my college days. Sometimes my friends and I would just park somewhere kind of isolated, lay up on the rear deck of the '68 Dart (the angle of the rear window was just about perfect to rest your head), and just chill. I guess nowadays you'd probably dent a car if you did that! At leat this one girl that I knew would ;-)
Back then we coulda used a remote for that stereo, too!
beachnut - I'm surprised that's the first time you've seen it. That's an older ad. I think they've been using it a few years now. They must only show it in Spring/Summer - convertible season.
Anyone remember Wayne and Garth doing it in Wayne's World? They laid there as the jets flew directly over them only a couple hundred feet off the ground. There are actually people that still do that around the fence at O'Hare airport, so when I saw it in the movie, I knew where they got the idea.
Of course, Wayne and Garth were laying on the hood of a stout '77 AMC Pacer. Funny...the AMC cars were often criticized, the company is long since dead and buried but when the producer was looking for a 'cool' car for the character in the movie to drive, he used a Pacer. The cars live on in movies....
...that was around the time we did it with my Dart...back in the early '90's. Sometimes we'd go out to a little park near DC's National Airport, sit up on the Dart and watch the planes land. They weren't quite as close as in Wayne's World, but it was still kinda cool.
Gawd I feel old...reminiscing about the '90's! ;-) I even saw a Pacer for sale last weekend at an AMC show. Very tempting...
That's something quite a few people do, even big kids. From time to time I will take one of my kids in a Miata and go hang out as close to the landing path as we can get. We know we aren't aren't the only ones as the hedge next to the airport fence has a well worn hole in it. It's just one of those fascinations with heavy equipment and a marvel of modern man.
...there's a spot not too far from where I live, where the Amtrak Northeast corridor crosses the river into the next county. It's not a very high bridge, and there's a little dirt service road that goes under it. I used to like walking under it and standing there, as the trains would roar by overhead. Kind of a neat experience, but it makes you want to duck the first couple of times!
I used to go to that park just off the runway for National Airport. Went there a few times to watch the fireworks and once or twice to watch the planes. That was also a good place to park and pick up the bike path that ran to Alexandria.
Is that bridge off of Conway Road? I pass that intersection every time I go to work in Bowie but I've never gone down it. This Summer, I think my boys and I are going to go exploring on my days off.
Just saw the CL ad where the couple is racing up the mountains for a house-showing appointment. The guy is staring over the cliffs, dreaming of driving his CL-S around all the curves again, and says "we'll take it" to the real estate agent. Acura has a great ad for this car!
I see plenty of CLs around. No one else makes affordable upmarket personal coupes anymore, so it makes sense for Acura to do so.
In my lifetime, the most agrivating commercials I've ever seen are Kia commercials. The thing that's annoying about them is that they're so haughty. They claim that, because Kia's have more features and a lower cost, they're better than Toyotas. They've even effecively "bashed" Toyota in one commercial, where the Toyota owner breaks the rear gate on her RAV4.
Okay, no offense to Kia owners, but I don't think Kia is in a position to mock an automaker that sells about one hundred thousand cars more a month than they do. Their attitude is just... dumb.
Now, those comercials were on about 8 months or so ago. Of course, there are now new ones. At least they're not bashing their competitors again, but their commercials are still, well, dumb. You know the ones: Where the old guy gets covered in sawdust? Kind of amusing, I guess, but I don't see what anyone would buy a Kia just because the commercial enertained them.
I think the Kia got 5* in NHTSA tests. The fact that the van weighs a bunch more than the competition aided in this. Of course, you won't see their commercials touting good gas mileage.
Cadillac is running a TV ad using the rock song with the lyrics "Been a long time since we rocked and rolled" (Led Zep?). Yeah, a long time. Like never.
Still, that hard-driving music is a good choice for a commercial to grab your attention.
Back in the 30s, 40s, 50s, maybe even into the 60s and 70s, a Cadillac was probably as cool, hip, desirable, etc... as a Lexus/BMW/Mercedes, etc would be today. They didn't always have the image they do now.
Well, if you define "rock and roll" as being a sporty "enthusiast's" car then, OK, but neither are most Lexuses. In any case, I just objected to the word Never. Cadillacs used to be the Standard of the World, waaaaay back when.
Recently Lexus has been running an ad where a guy comes out to the driveway and moves the car cover from a beautifully restored convertible (Oldsmobile?) and covers his Lexus SUV to protect it from the rain. The first time I saw it I yelled, "No way!"
...appears to be a 1953 Buick. What serious collector would leave his ride outside under a cover in the first place? I'd have it inside the garage for one AND with a cover to keep the dust off. Maybe the Lexus SUV is his wife's vehicle and he's a very henpecked husband.
You're right on, Lemko. When I was a valet, a new Lexus RX pulled up, and the husband jumped out before I could do anything and cried "don't touch the car! my wife's very fussy about her dang Japluxmobile!"
Comments
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
That was one awesome ad...
That ad just made me want to drive with the top down, immediately!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
The Honda CR-V ads which subtly make fun of the Nissan Xterra ads, showing someone doing some crazy "extreme" sport, then crashing, and the people with the CR-V say "that had to hurt".
The Ford Thunderbird ad which shows a sports car pull up next to the T-bird, wanting to race. The guy in the sports car has his girlfriend get out to signal the start. The sports car disappears in a cloud of dust and tire smoke. The T-bird is still sitting there and the driver asks the girl if she needs a ride. Cool.
Love that T-bird ad, too.
-juice
Any HONEST ad man will tell you that he will steal ANY good idea. What's bad is when you see two ads running for different products, and you can instantly tell they came from the same ad agency because they are SOOOOO similar.
As for copy-cat ads, most of you won't remember them, but the ZOOM ZOOM ads are very similar to ads that Volvo ran years ago. They had boxy Volvos coming off of a car hauler's trailer, hitting the brakes and doing a 180 degree turn, then racing down a highway veering in and out of cones and other obstacles just mere inches from each other. I had forgotten those ads 'til I saw the 'Automobiles' show that featured Volvo on the History Channel recently.
And, yeah, the ads with the kid doing something stupid, then the other kids asking, "what was he thinking?" are really good.
And, don't forget the Volkswagen "dah, dah, dah..." song. The cars are overpriced, but the commercials are excellent.
BORING award? ALL Ford trucks, ALL Dodge trucks, ALL Chevy trucks...which you see about every 90 seconds on local TV here in Texas.
And now the legal disclaimer (for realism, read this as FAST as you can): yourmileagemayvarysomeoptionsareextraseeyourdealerfordetailsnotallcustomersquailfyforlowinterestrate limitedtimeoffernotgoodinall50statesbatteriesnotincludedareyoustilreadingthis?basemodel$10,999 carshown$25,999offervoidwhereprohibitedbylaworourlawyers
Joe
I guess that is supposed to make me want a new 2003 Caddy, but give me that red '59 ragtop ANYTIME over the latest 'Caddy that zigs'!
Joe
I kinda like that Caddy CTS ad, although I'll admit it makes me want the '59 Eldorado more than the CTS too! I could almost see a spoof of this ad, where the '59 Caddy hunts down the CTS out in the desert, along the lines of Steven Spielberg's "Duel" (just replace the Valiant and the tanker truck)
Ad for Dodge Ram, where there's a runaway boat on a trailer rolling down a mountain-side road. Boat almost hits Ram head-on, them Ram turns around, gets in front of boat, hitches boat to rear (while moving) and pulls over. Then an RV with broken chains on back drives by and woman says, "Hey they have a boat just like ours!"
Question: How did the boat get IN FRONT of them in the first place???
-juice
Back then we coulda used a remote for that stereo, too!
Grand High Poobah
The Fraternal Order of Procrastinators
Grand High Poobah
The Fraternal Order of Procrastinators
For the record, my wife shakes her head when I say Edmunds.
Of course, Wayne and Garth were laying on the hood of a stout '77 AMC Pacer. Funny...the AMC cars were often criticized, the company is long since dead and buried but when the producer was looking for a 'cool' car for the character in the movie to drive, he used a Pacer. The cars live on in movies....
Joe
Gawd I feel old...reminiscing about the '90's! ;-) I even saw a Pacer for sale last weekend at an AMC show. Very tempting...
I used to go to that park just off the runway for National Airport. Went there a few times to watch the fireworks and once or twice to watch the planes. That was also a good place to park and pick up the bike path that ran to Alexandria.
What did you think of last night's thunderstorms?
Acura has a great ad for this car!
I see plenty of CLs around. No one else makes affordable upmarket personal coupes anymore, so it makes sense for Acura to do so.
Okay, no offense to Kia owners, but I don't think Kia is in a position to mock an automaker that sells about one hundred thousand cars more a month than they do. Their attitude is just... dumb.
Now, those comercials were on about 8 months or so ago. Of course, there are now new ones. At least they're not bashing their competitors again, but their commercials are still, well, dumb. You know the ones: Where the old guy gets covered in sawdust? Kind of amusing, I guess, but I don't see what anyone would buy a Kia just because the commercial enertained them.
Benz commercials for the new C-Class (all models): "Soul." Ummmmmmmmmm... Benz is grasping at straws...
Yeah, a long time. Like never.
Still, that hard-driving music is a good choice for a commercial to grab your attention.
Back in the 30s, 40s, 50s, maybe even into the 60s and 70s, a Cadillac was probably as cool, hip, desirable, etc... as a Lexus/BMW/Mercedes, etc would be today. They didn't always have the image they do now.
They weren't a rock 'n' roll - mobile. More for the Sinatra set.
Except for the King.
I think that says it all.
I never got to touch the RX then... >:(
Good thing there was a disclaimer "Not designed for underwater driving" Thanks guys.