Quote Of The Day: You Gotta Do More Than Put A Bow On It Edition
My war on Christmas gift-themed car ads has scored something of a victory, as AdAge reports that “creative spots for new luxury model automobiles that hyped the holiday have failed to perform effectively in the fourth quarter of 2011 so far,” according to surveys by Ace Metrix. And the accompanying quotes by the ad evaluation firm’s CEO Peter Daboll really sum up a lot of the problems with these 30-second cliches:
It’s astounding that four of the ‘top 10’ luxury automobile ads were below norm… many automotive brands have stepped away from good creative and fallen back on “Buy it now, you idiot” messaging wrapped up in sales events and bows. When we started looking at cars with bows and yet another Toytathon, it was enough, already. To suggest that someone buy a Lexus for his spouse in these economic times…”
You’ve got to love that sinister ellipsis, especially when certain luxury brands are suggesting not only that you buy your spouse a car, but that you buy them a cell phone as well, with which to alert them that you’ve bought them a new car…
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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Sorry guys, I just bought a used car coming off a 3 year lease. There are great deals out there since 2008 was a peak production year.
I know someone who bought his wife a silver convertible (Dodge 600 turbo) for what he thought was their silver anniversary. Turns out it was their 24th. Then they had a constant reminder of what a dumb ass he was sitting in the driveway (until it rattled itself into oblivion six years later).
Every time I see this Lexus commercial I think about the spouse yelling "We can't afford that"! "We need the money for junior's college"! "What's wrong with our Camry anyway"!
What gets me about these ads is that they lead-in with the Mark (oh, excuse me, the 'giftee') being subtly clued-in by the use of something to play the 'Lexus Theme Song' at them. I didn't even realize there was a 'Lexus Theme Song' before these ads. And really, if you're the kind of person rich enough that you'd buy your significant other a car as a surprise.. would you really buy them a Lexus?