I have a hate/hate relationship with television ads for car dealerships. I accept the fact that these ads have a limited budget, but that doesn’t change the fact that they make me angry. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sq-HYGfnIo)
Let me also say, that having interned in an ad agency, often times the client will dictate the direction of the ad, and turn to the agency to only say yes. They don’t really want to hear what you have to say, they just want you to support their ideas.
The opinions I express about these ads are not about the agency or the client, I’m just saying the formula is bad. These commercials could have resulted from a client, or an agency wanting them to be this way who knows, we won’t judge them.
But before I give you a video example of one of these atrocities, let me first run down the basic formula for car dealership TV ad:
1. The first thing you will see will be a shot their lot, with some text at the top of the screen telling you the name of the dealership. Note: This will look like it has been drawn on the screen with soap.
2. Next you will hear a voice that is shouting at you (usually male) , telling you all of the reasons why you shoud come check out their lot. Usually this will include some sort of strange voice used to catch your attention.
3. Throughout the ad (probably around 30 seconds) there will be shots of their best inventory, and usually it will end with the owner of the dealership doing something goofy and telling you to “come on down!”
Now each commercial is different, and these rules aren’t exact, but this is pretty much every car commercial I’ve ever seen in my life. Here is a link to a Dave Smith Auto commercial that follows the mold I laid out.
You may be asking, why is this method wrong? They are effective aren’t they? True. But they still are the number one cause of channel changing in my household, and for that reason alone, something must be done.
So why not embrace the low budgetness of it all and make something that looks extremely low budget as a satire? Make it look so bad that it is awesome. We all know the people you use in the ads obviously aren’t trained actors so why pretend. This ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTSa4cbcDHY) is going in the right direction. It is extremely corny, but it’s so corny and silly and it made me chuckle a little bit. But they still tried to make it a little serious, and I think that’s why all the comments at the bottom are still so negative, because it came off as contrived. I will leave you with what could be the most ridiculous ad ever, not only because it has a seven minute run time, but also because, well just watch (you don’t have to watch the whole thing) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mFMepFRfcs
Tags: Advertising, TV
January 9, 2009 at 9:30 pm |
Thank you for this very enthused run down of car commercials. A lot of the things that you have to say resonate with me, which I can appreciate. A second read throughs may serve wonders when writing your blog. There are a few dropped words.