Car Ads, Patriots Win the Super Bowl
For Bostonians who happen to be both football and automobile aficionados, Super Bowl XLIX was a bonanza.
The game was one for the ages, assuming you’re a Patriot fan and not among the legions in the rest of the country (world?) who were rooting for the Seahawks.
Meanwhile, the traditional automotive commercials, while good, weren’t quite as spectacular. The verdict here is that the automakers had a good game overall with a lot of solid efforts; however, no one hit a grand slam.
Some automotive reviewers appreciate performance-oriented commercials, but I prefer those that tug at the heartstrings, make me laugh, or do a great job of branding.
This year, no one gave me a belly laugh the way Hyundai did in 2009 when it celebrated the Genesis being named North American Car of the Year by spoofing the reactions to that news (arriving by banner headline in the newspaper) in other luxury manufacturers’ boardrooms. Of course, maybe I’m just showing my preference for newspapers.
Nor did anyone tug at the heartstrings the way Ram did in 2013 with its ode to the American farmer, using a voiceover by the late Paul Harvey.
Best of Show
FCA (Fiat Chrysler’s corporate new name) had the best day overall. Its Fiat 500X SUV spot built on previous risqué Fiat 500 ads. This one had an older gentleman’s little blue pill (think Viagra) bounce away over rooftops, finally landing in the gas tank of a Fiat 500 that then grows into the 500X. A nice job of mixing sex, humor, and branding plus continuing a theme. Whether it will boost Fiat 500 sales remains to be seen.
The company’s past grand-scale commercials such as the American Farmer and “Imported from Detroit’’ (for the Chrysler 200 in 2011) continued with the ad featuring its new Jeep Renegade subcompact SUV. The long-form spot had scenic shots from at least 10 countries set to “This Land is Your Land,’’ and succeeded in showing the Renegade as a global vehicle. The Renegade should give Jeep a solid entry in the expanding subcompact SUV market.
Were These Car Ads?
FCA had an entry here, and Toyota had a pair.
Dodge quoted a group of very senior citizens (actual centenarians?) about lessons they’ve learned over the past century for an ad with the theme, “Here’s to the next 100 years.’’ There was just one brief shot of a Dodge Challenger vehicle at the end.
Toyota did a pair of heartwarming themes with its “One Bold Choice Leads to Another’’ campaign for the Camry.
The first, which was the first auto ad shown, featured video of Paralympic medalist and “Dancing with the Stars’’ finalist Amy Purdy set to Muhammad Ali’s “How Great I Am’’ speech. Shots of the Camry going from place to place in the spot showed that the Camry, as we know, is great at going from place to place.
The second featured former and current NFL stars LaVar Arrington, Kurt Warner, Fred Jackson, and DeMarcus Ware making smart (bold?) choices as dads every day.
It’s a stretch to link this campaign to the best-selling Camry, which has just had a significant redesign, but the spots did leave a good feeling about Toyota.
Horsepower
OK. This is just an excuse to mention the best of the ads—Budweiser’s “Lost Puppy,’’ about a canine who runs away and is saved by his buddy, a former stablemate who was sold to be among the Clydesdales who pull the Budweiser wagon. “Best Buds’’ indeed.
Meanwhile, Lexus, the quintessential luxury-comfort-reliability brand, spent $4.5 million for a 30-second spot to push its performance arm and the RC 350 coupe. It’s an admirable continuation of the marque’s determination to change its corporate DNA and clever use of a radio-controlled model of the car (RC) in the ad.
Dad Ads
In addition to its “Bold Dads’’ ad, Toyota had another ad about a dad’s memories of raising his daughter to be bold in her own right and then holding back tears as he drops her off at the airport (in a Camry) as she heads off to join the military.
The best Dad Ad, however, was Nissan’s father-son story set to Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle’’ about a wife and son missing their aspiring race-driver father and husband. The spot featured Nissan’s coming GTR LM Nismo race car that will compete at LeMans and ended with a glimpse of a future Maxima sports sedan. Perhaps best of all, it ended with a father-and-son reunion.
(Very) Honorable Mentions
Kia had James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) primed for a dangerous mission in “Perfect Getaway’’ as a Kia Sorento climbs a snow-covered mountain, seeing only an owl and moose instead of imagined “enemies’’ en route to a romantic “escape.’’
Mazda used the cape of magicians Penn & Teller to unveil the (naturally) bigger and better CX-5 compact SUV.
Chevy’s decision to sit out this year’s in-game spots turned out to be a winner as everyone saw its Colorado ad that led into the postgame show and the Chevrolet-sponsored game and MVP trophy presentations. Tom Brady winning the Colorado that went with the MVP trophy didn’t hurt, either.
Mercedes-Benz had a much-hyped version of the hare and tortoise race in which the tortoise finds a new M-B factory out in the woods and a sports car (AMG GT-S) in which he (she?) wins the competition in a “driving’’ finish.
BMW i3: The company did an admirable job of explaining how technology “takes some getting used to’’ in the sport with “clueless’’ Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric on the road in the unique-looking electric vehicle. It included a 1994 flashback has them saying this “Internet thing’’ will never go anyplace.
Of course, if the Patriots had lost, the notes used for this story would have been crumpled up and sent out in the trash.
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