The TTAC Academy Ad Awards, By Popular Vote Category. And The Winners Are ...

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

With both Niedermeyers away, Friday’s heroes were Steven Lang and Cammy Corrigan. The two of them, sometimes at odds over matters of faith, saved TTAC from an otherwise assured traffic disaster, caused by the absence of our dear leaders. The two most read posts on Friday’s TTAC were Steven Lang’s review of the Kia Optima in first place, and Cammy Corrigan’s “Ask The Best And Brightest: Have A Favourite Car Ad” in a close second.

Who says there is justice in this world? Steven had to get, drive, and describe a Kia Optima. Hard work. Cammy only had to ask “what are your favourite adverts or advertising campaigns from the auto world?” And the nominations kept pouring in. At the time of this typing, there were 112 comments, most of them with a link to an ad, as required. Some incorrigibles posted without a link, shame on you, stand in the corner.

Not only were the ads posted, they were watched. Due to the work of our Canadian crack coders, we can see how many times someone clicks on a link. Data derived from the click-count are the key to the easiest to write category: “By Popular Vote.” And the winners are… (ranked from most clicked on down:)

The 1984 Little GTI won the most hearts, minds and clicks of the Best & Brightest. Credit: Green Destiny, ScottyDriver.

Second in place was a more serious one, a 420 SEL Mercedes Benz traveling on a highway outside of Melbourne, some time in the late 80s. It had a head-on collision. No fun at all. Usually, not something shown in a TV commercial. But the B&B love it. Credit: Ben.

Next in line is the Isuzu Gemini, which spawned a whole genre of car ballet commercials (to be featured in a later TTAC post.) Credit: Niky

Safety (or smashed cars, you be the judge) rank high in popularity amongst the Best and Brightest, as evidenced by the strong showing of this ad for Volvo’s insipidly named SIPS (Side Impact Protection System). Credit: Cammy Corrigan.

This ad for a Toyota Vios presaged the ghost in the machine problems of possessed Toyotas. They were just a tiny bit off: Loch Ness Monster eats man. Credit: FishTank.

Next in line is an old standby on the Youtube circuit, the lady with the fake steering wheel. It also generated a whole fake steering wheel genre, not to be featured in a future TTAC post, as most of the sequels were duds. The original actually should be disqualified, as it is not a car commercial in the true sense of the word. But we are in a weekend mode and let it slide. Credit: Pgcooldad. Extra credit for nominating it as “My all time favourite non-car car commercial.”

Next comes a classic from Doyle Dane Bernbach’s and Volkswagen’s best times. The venerable “Have you ever wondered how the man who drives a snow plough drives to the snow plough?” Credit: Wgmleslie.

Ah, the Volkswagen classics. Where would advertising be without them? The squeaky earring that needed a dab of oil won the ad many awards and VW a lot of Golf customers. Credit: PaulieWalnut.

Often discussed, but finally found by intrepid B&B searchers: The “Unpimp your ride” ad, with them men and women in white. Credit: Educatordan.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • TG57 TG57 on Mar 27, 2010

    I'd really like to see how that same Gemini ad would go if it was done with Lincoln Town Cars or something of that sort...

  • Niky Niky on Mar 27, 2010

    I think the home team bias remark was more in regards to the number of VW ads... You didn't happen to e-mail a few former colleagues, did you, Bertel? ;) Still... the number of VW ads shows just how much VW "gets" advertising.

    • See 1 previous
    • Mirko Reinhardt Mirko Reinhardt on Mar 28, 2010

      But they have Heidi & Seal, in their pretty Tiguans. Oh well...

  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
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