Chevy Trucks: Somehow related to 9/11 and Katrina

Someone at Chevy greenlit a horribly exploitative new advertisement that tries to link a John Mellencamp song, Chevy trucks and two of our most recent and horrific national tragedies. This ad has no place on television now or at any other time after a tragedy.

Seth Stevenson of Slate also reflected on this advertisement with similar thoughts. Video link to the commercial is on the site as well.

One should note that this is the first and only advertisement to directly use the tragedies in an attempt to sell a product. One exception is the 2001 Superbowl commercial when the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales bow facing the New York skyline. At the time, that was seen as a moderately controversial, but sensitive advertisement.

It would be lazy for me to say that this ad is possibly targeted to someone a bit more conservative than me, but I don’t think that is the case here.   I think it was a horrible judgement by GM to use these images.  I truly think that 9/11 and Katrina have zero reason to be used as lightning rods for patriotic vehicle purchases.

Instead of continuing a negative diatribe, I think it would be more constructive to offer concepts that would help the American auto industry:

1. Build reliable cars

2. Grasp the value of having hybrids in your fleet

3. Design cars that are aesthetically appealing

Until then, please don’t link national tragedies to vehicle purchases. It doesn’t make your company look good.

The Marketing Power of Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy

Adam Carolla claims that every white male between 18 and 35 loves Bill Simmons, ESPN’s most popular columnist and a best-selling author. Simmons’ columns mix sports and pop culture references.  He’ll often write about new movies, technology, television, or other products of which he approves or disapproves.

I will admit that with Simmons’ advice, I’ve consumed / purchased items he has recommended. For one, my devotion to the TV show 24 is directly related Simmons’ advice, and I can think of a few others who can say the same thing.

It’s no wonder then, that marketers are beginning to take note: our generation listens to what he says.
__________________________________
During the last basketball season, Kobe Bryant compared himself to a Black Mamba. For lack of a better term, Simmons pounced on the preposterous proclamation and referred to Kobe as the Mamba for the remainder of the year.

Sony Electronic Sports has just released a game called NBA 07: The Life. The primary ad campaign features former NBA player Billy Joe Cuthbert acting as “the Mongoose,” rival to the Mamba.  Cuthbert claims to be mad that he was passed up for the cover of the video game and challenges the Mamba to a game of one on one. Website for the campaign.

I contend that if Bill Simmons did not keep the Mamba joke running, the campaign would not exist as it does today.

__________________________________

Randomly, another video game company is likely using Bill Simmons influence for a campaign.

To step back a bit, Tiger Woods had an appearance on ESPN2’s Cold Pizza a couple of years back. It was just after he had bleached some very odd looking spots in his hair. At 7am, he was standing on a major street in Manhattan doing an interview with the host. My memory on this is hazy and I cannot find anything else online about it, but I know he was wearing a vertical striped shirt and in general looked as if he was headed out for the night. It was awkward. He had just had, or was about to have, a birthday. The interviewer asked what his perfect birthday would be, and Woods responded something like, “One that I wouldn’t remember the next morning.” This had to be the most odd thing I had ever heard him say. It was clearly visible that his handlers were trying to create a urban / modern image for him, and it went over horribly.

Cut to the present. EA Sports is in the middle of launching Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07. Along with a substantial television advertising campaign, EA launched the product in Los Angeles recently. Time was made for Bill Simmons to play Tiger at the game. A small order, but no doubt a valuable move for EA. I’d venture to guess too that it was a better idea than having Tiger act like a partying 20-something. We all knew he wasn’t.

Why not advertise in HD?

I purchased a Samsung HD television a few months ago. Oddly, I am just now getting used to viewing more content in HD.

Something that i find interesting about the HD content is that the advertising industry does not seem to be keeping up with the revolution. Marc Cuban recently discussed his similar views.

It would seem to me that some industries could vastly prosper by using HD advertising. The numbers relating to the average HD users are staggering (see link above). Most are male and the fact that they have HD alone points to an increased likelihood to spend on luxury items.

I’d suspect though that marketers agree with everything I am saying, it’s just a matter of justifying the increased expense of making a HD commercial.

On a side note, I have been watching quite a bit of Discovery HD. Their content is amazing and they definitely have become the best provider of HD content.