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

fischda · December 2001

An Italian sports car (let's say Ferrari) pulls up to a dessert intersection next to a new red T-bird and revs his engine. Ferrari guy nods insultingly to his beautiful girlfriend, indicating she get out and start the ensuing drag race. Girl reluctantly complies, drops the hanky, and in a cloud of burnt rubber, the Ferrari is gone. T-bird never moves. Girl looks at T-bird driver who say's "Need a lift?" Girl gets in, T-bird guy turns right and cruises away. LOVE IT!!

cyranno99 · December 2001

I am definitely getting annoyed by the Dodge trucks commercial featuring Aerosmith... I like the group, but it's getting old fast!

fischda... I think that's a Lotus... not a Ferrari.

andys120 · December 2001

There's an annoying TV ad where a Hyundai Sonata(?) is driving thru this little European village and the little villagers all start to follow it...
give me a break, a Hyundai! Lexus has a similar ad which is a little more believable but what's with the European backgrounds to sell Asiatic cars, do you suppose they're trying to borrow the
image of quality and class that European cars project. They're forgetting another attribute of European cars, distinctiveness, as in originality!

fischda · December 2001

Thanks. Without seeing the badge, I can't tell those exotic sports cars apart. But you gotta love how the driver may have won the drag race, but lost his girl to the suave T-bird guy!!

suvshopper4 · December 2001

andys120: Sure Hyundai and Lexus are "borrowing" from the Euro cars, trying to cash in on Euro cachet via an image, hence the Euro village. They're not forgetting Euro cars' distinctiveness or originality, but they're figuring most consumers will.

Smart marketing, seems to me. It is all about projecting an image that sticks in the mind. Doesn't matter if the image is borrowed. In fact, borrowing saves the considerable time and money of creating a new image from scratch.

The Asian car industry was born out of borrowing. So was their electronics industry. Give them credit, they do it well; they took the transistor and showed the rest of the world how to use it cheaply. Are there still any TV companies that build in the US? (Is Curtis-Mathes still around?)

davem2001 · December 2001

Actually, SONY builds TVs in Western PA (in the old Volkswagen plant), but I don't think any "American" brands like Zenith or GE still do.

cyranno99 · December 2001

fischda - no problem... yeah, it seems Ford T-bird's image is not about drag racing... as more about cruising...

Yup.. it seems that European styling is all the rage and that's why you see car commercials with a "European" flavor to them.

windowphobe6 · December 2001

Oddly enough, I had to track them down while doing an essay on, of all things, the return of Bob Lutz.

(Disclosure: I am copying from a Web page here, but since I wrote it, I think I can safely say that there aren't any copyright issues to worry about.)

Original is at http://www.dustbury.com/vent/vent257.html

------------------------------------------

Product, we are told, is king. The world will beat a path to your door, rather than to the doors of lesser mousetrap makers. Bob Lutz, who was the guiding light during the glory days of the pre-Daimler Chrysler Corporation, is known to believe this sort of thing, and his arrival at General Motors has been greeted with Second Coming-level enthusiasm.

It may even be so. There are few things that General Motors needs right now so much as a line of cars that people will line up to buy without bothering to ask how much the rebates are. For years, GM has been falling back on highly-dubious principles of brand management, figuring that all they had to do was target the advertising correctly, and the targets would duly flock to the dealerships. It didn't take long for the rest of the world to figure out that this strategy was seriously flocked up; by now, even your Aunt Hazel and Uncle Elmer know that underneath it all, a Chevy is a Pontiac is a Buick and used to be an Oldsmobile. Cadillac, once the Standard of the World, has dwindled into a few trim bits here and there.

Bob Lutz, say the pundits, will fix all this; under Lutz, the General will presumably build cars that will not only scare Ford and whoever owns Chrysler this week, but cars that will put the fear of God, or at least of Bob, into the hearts of Toyota and Honda and Volkswagen. It's a tall order, and I'm talking Shaq-style height here, but if anyone can do it, surely Bob Lutz can.

That little word "if" looms awfully large, though. History is full of examples of superior products that died a horrible death in the marketplace. (Two words: "Sony Betamax".) The best-laid plans often are royally screwed along the way. I offer as example the small Texas-based television manufacturer, Curtis Mathes, named for founder George Curtis Mathes, which in the late Seventies had a regional reputation that could fairly be described as colossal; their audacious slogan was "The most expensive television in America, and darn well worth it." Included in that lofty price tag was a prodigious warranty: one year labor, ten years on parts. I bought one of their 19-inch sets in 1981 for a stiff $500. Twenty years later, it has never needed a repair.

The merits of the product, however, couldn't save Curtis Mathes. The rest of the American TV makers moved as far away from Dallas and the rest of the country as possible. Some were swallowed up by international conglomerates; some exist today only as brand names. Curtis Mathes filed for bankruptcy. The company, under new ownership, tried to regroup in the middle 90s under the name "UniView" with a WebTV-like box - before WebTV, even - but nothing came of it. UniView still exists, still working on set-top technology and other neat stuff, but what brings in the money these days is, of all things, television - sets imported from the Pacific Rim and sold at Kmart stores under the Curtis Mathes brand. Obviously the "most expensive" tag won't play in the land of the BlueLight Special.

So I wish Bob Lutz well as he starts whipping General Motors into shape, but I worry that the things he can't control (a soft economy, weird governmental notions, sudden enlightenment at Ford) will wind up overwhelming the things he can. Come to think of it, that sounds like my life.

wishnhigh1 · December 2001

cyranno99 · December 2001

I think it was a Porsche 911 commercial - seen only once... where it was going through traffic lights with cameras mounted on top. The people who operated the traffic tried to stop the Porsche so they could get a better view... nicely done commercial.... just a like chuckle.

Kirstie_H · December 2001

That ad mixes a lot of elements that just don't tie together for me. People waving at the car, that bizarre Jethro Tull song (thick as a brick), narrarated by Peri Gilpin from Frasier... I can't quite grasp what message they're trying to send me.

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Edmunds.com

cyranno99 · December 2001

I think that those people were treating the car like a member of the family and they were sad when it left the town....

pjyoung · December 2001

I laughed out loud at the ad where the family is in the SUV, with the wife driving. The husband announces with a smile "I quit my job today", then the teenage daughter pipes up with "I met the coolest guy on the internet...he's 30" and the youngest son said "Hey mom, you remember that tattoo I was thinking about getting?" All this time, a bunch of bottles are falling off the truck in front of them and the woman calmly steers around the obstacles.

cyranno99 · December 2001

I've not seen it... must be an ad for the RX 300 because I don't remember an ad for the LX at all....

moo01 · December 2001

How about the new Porsche commercial where a young guy was driving a new Porsche in one scene and an older man took out his vintage Porsche from his garage for a ride and they drove by each other at some point and both were attracted to each other's car...I don't remember what they said exactly in the commercial but I thought that was a great commercial...I have only seen it once on TV in the last month...anyone else seen that?

cookie22 · December 2001

Love the one where the little girl is in the front seat with her mother and ask where she got the name "Savannah" Her mother says "You were named after the place you were concieved" So she ask her mother how her little brother in the back seat ," Concorde" got his name. !!!!

cyranno99 · December 2001

yup... I mentioned that already.... kinda funny... I've seen it several times now.

I like the Dodge minivan ad where the guy was pretty "helpful" to pick up strangers because his van is roomy... he finally dumped a bunch of guys for a Swedish (?) group of female students.

andre1969 · December 2001

...where a guy's sitting in an Optima in the showroom, and the sales guy asks him how it feels. He says it's comfortable, but then leans forward. The saleman puts a wad of cash behind the guy's back and he says "Aaah, that's better!"

The message I get from this is that they have to practically throw money at people to get them to take these cars. Is that really the message they want to portray?

cyranno99 · December 2001

well... the way I would view it is that Kia is making fun of other car makers.... so you have to throw more money for other more expensive cars to be really comfortable.....

fischda · December 2001

I think the money bit was to advertise the rebates Kia is giving for the cars. It's cute especially when both husband and wife are in the car, wads of cash behind their heads, ooh-ing like they were in a massage chair. Didn't make me want a Kia at all, though.

suvshopper4 · December 2001

People always like to see money coming to them.
A positive, memorable, feel-good image.

cyranno99 · December 2001

I like the one where the astronaut was dreaming that he is driving a Maxima then he woke up in a space shuttle.... fun kneeeeee!!!

sarah233 · December 2001

the jetta ad where the guy is rushing to a wedding to "speak now or forever hold your peace" and the ad (may not be running anymore) where the guy pretends that he's been having an affair to fool his wife into thinking that instead of that he's been driving the car (lexus?)

suvshopper4 · December 2001

Yeah, that Jetta wedding ad. "Borrowing" from a classic movie, "The Graduate". Funny to think that less than a dozen years ago, VW sales were so abysmal that there was a lot of talk that they would pull out of the US. VW insiders said they believed they had to remain in such a major world market, and they found an advertising approach that knew how to reach young people. VW kept going with freshened-up older designs (Golf and Jetta) and for years dangled the carrot of the promised new Beetle; look where they are now.
The power of advertising.

crkeehn · December 2001

like the driver, I would love to tell the cable installer that I will be there some time between noon and 5.

cyranno99 · December 2001

I think that was a Lexus LS commercial a couple years back....

VW ad... yup.. he rushed into the wrong church as well...

kenjabi · December 2001

The one where the 4 guys are trying to move a mattress, but they live on a busy street with a traffic light down the street from their house. One guy pulls his VW (Golf or Jetta, I forget) in front of the house in bumper-to-bumper traffic when the light turns red. The other guys quickly take mattress, lay it on top of car, and tie it down, finishing right before the light turns green. Relieved at their effort, they go to get in the car before traffic starts moving...only to find they tied the doors closed! They all have that great "Uh-oh" look on their face as the ad ends.

I saw it a few times a little more than a year ago, and have only seen it once or twice since. Funny ad!

rbrenton88 · December 2001

I know it's probably been mentioned already, but...

I cannot stand that idiot wanting to buy an Impala after a 5-foot test drive. "My father had one of these!" Sure pal, it's the exact same car 30 years later.

I hope he ends up stuck in a 72-month loan, hopelessly upside down in it, and despising the Chevy piece of garbage.
hee hee!

cyranno99 · December 2001

yeah.. but he probably got a zero interest rate payment

I think that he should takes his father for car shopping with him so he can recall the "good 'ol days" as well

sarah233 · December 2001

there's an acura ad that has jazz as the background music--a fast tune. does anyone know what it's called or who the players are? i don't recognize it.

chevytruck_fan · December 2001

the stupid clam chowder ad, how does this make me want to buy an acura? In an acura you can make long trips for no reason, or are we suppose to think you can speed extremely fast.

lancerfixer · December 2001

Tell ya what, I'll explain the Acura ads to you if you can explain the "giant contruction worker" Chevy truck ads to me. :-)

loncray · December 2001

New ad, for the Toyota Tacoma (might be Tundra) - four morons tip over a sleeping rhino and then run away from it - with the tagline "Are you tough enough for Tacoma?" The end has them eyeing a sleeping elephant. My thought is, "Are you stupid enough for Tacoma?" Even if I wanted a Toyota truck, I wouldn't want to be lumped in with anybody who'd go near a rhinoceros - much less do something really stupid to one!

suvshopper4 · December 2001

lancerfixer: "Tell ya what, I'll explain the Acura ads to you if you can explain the "giant contruction worker" Chevy truck ads to me. :-) "

You noticed the ad and remembered it, and what it was for. 'Nuff said.

That said, I'll say more - the ad gives an aura of muscular, over-sized strength. Like a truck.

lancerfixer · December 2001

But I don't understand why it would make me want to buy a Chevy Truck.
The Acura ad works on some level in that that it says, "Buy one of these and you'll love driving it so much you'll want to drive from NYC to Maine for lunch." The Chevy ads seems to suggest I'd turn into Paul Bunyan. Doesn't seem to work. Truth be told, though, I'm also not a member of the Chevy ads' target audience. Don't have a truck, don't need a truck, don't want a truck. Still, the Chevy ads aren't as silly as the "Mayor of Truckville" spots. How lame.

suvshopper4 · December 2001

Perhaps if they made it 'GIANT Mayor of Truckville'?

Kirstie_H · December 2001

I can testify re: the Chevy truck ads, lancer. I've been in a Chevy truck, and I am still a tiny, major wimp. False advertising! Lawsuit, lawsuit!

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Edmunds.com

chevytruck_fan · December 2001

man those truckville ads are bad!

well of course I'm partial to gm , but the target audience for trucks are bluie collar workers who want to have the most manly truck on the block, well I think those commercials show that.

cyranno99 · December 2001

definitely a case of animal cruelty (if they used actual rhino.... hahaha) - I guess Toyota is showing how tough the Tacoma when it was being hit by the rhino... room for four in that truck.. yeehaw!!!!!

storyteller · December 2001

Great: "Put the body in motion," by Mitsubishi. The music, filming style and action fit together perfectly to create a sense of excitement (for what is not a very exciting car). And let's say it: those models are HOT!

Bad: Any ad for a SUV that shows the machine in some wilderness setting where cars--wonderful as they are--just don't belong.

Worst: GM's recent ads suggesting the most patriotic thing we can do after 9-11 is to buy a GM car. At last, someone is asking Americans to make a sacrifice for their country in wartime!

chevytruck_fan · December 2001

maybe you don't know the whole story, people in the presidents cabinent met with GM and asked them if they could do something to keep the economy moving. GM employees more than a 190,000 people in the US, not too mention all the other jobs in steel, auto parts mfg, etc that goes a long with a car. The automakers have been keeping the economy going since september 11. So it is a good thing for the country when people buy a GM car.

Not too mention the fact the government needs the tax money for a strong economy to fund our war.

seminole_kev · December 2001

Since my wife works at a bankruptcy firm, I look at the other side of it. How well is it going to help the economy when these people that are incouraged to spend, spend, spend, default on loans, have cars repo'd, etc...

It's just a marketing gimmick like "this car will make you sexy" or "this SUV will make you the envy of your neighborhood".

storyteller · December 2001

chevytruck_fan: Thanks for pointing out that there is another side to the story. If the highest levels of government make that kind of request of a manufacturer, the manufacturer owes them a respectful consideration. From the outside, it looked like GM was cynically manipulating a surge of patriotism based on a national tragedy. That opinion was held by a number of marketing execs, I happen to know. I understand the need for continued consumer support of the national economy. What bothered me was the apparent manipulation. I'm glad you pointed out the other side of the story.

chevytruck_fan · December 2001

well obviously there is some sense of this is a good marketing ploy, but the government did talk to GM, as the old saying goes (and still holds true) "As GM goes so goes the nation" (or is it country, anyway you get the point).

dpwestlake · December 2001

A commercial I found annoying ran a couple of years ago. I think it was for Honda:

4 young women in the car, the driver, kind of plump wearing glasses and a goofy looking hat complains "He didn't call". The other three women chim in with lines like "He's intimidated by intelligent women.", "He has issues with his mother." etc.

twistinmelon · December 2001

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the commercial Lexus is running to promote giving your loved ones Lexi for Christmas. The most annoying scene is the parents telling the daughter they got her a CD player, and then opening the curtain to reveal the shiny new Lexus in the driveway.

Wanna smack 'em all.

twist

rfruth · December 2001

Lexus CD player makes about at much sense as SUV high atop a mountain all alone, both tell me the manufactures have plenty of money for advertising and don't need mine. Rob (hatchback) Fruth

suvshopper4 · December 2001

What's that? You didn't give a child a high-end automobile as a holiday gift?
Shame on you, Bunky!

Off to the tennis court. Ta ta.

bottgers · December 2001

All of the car commercials I've seen in the last year or so are stupid, and some are beyond stupid. Like the Daewoo com. where it's driven through a village, and all of the people are so intregued by it's looks, they all follow it through town, then they're saddened when it drives away. Please! Or the people in the Kia com. pulling off to the side of the road so they can get out their cars and scream for joy because their Kia makes them uncontrolably happy. Whatever. Or how about the guy driving his new, redesigned Camry down the highway and people are so taken with it's looks, everyone drives circles around him. Give me a break!

I don't understand why the car companies waste their money on this silly nonsense. Why don't they tell us something useful about the car? They'd rather waste their money making commercials strait from the fantasy world.

crkeehn · December 2001

The new Chrsyler ad isn't bad where the people are driving along the road, slow down for a moment and then speed up. It turns out they are admiring their cars in the mirrored glass of a passing glass truck. I find it true to life as it is the same thing I would do if I could get my Cruiser next to a glass truck

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

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