Cadillac's Oscars 2015 Adverts Channel Teddy, Shows No Product

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: February 19th, 2015

cadillac s oscars 2015 adverts channel teddy shows no product

Melody Lee may or may not be on the red carpet Sunday, but Teddy Roosevelt’s essence will be felt in one of Cadillac’s Oscars 2015 adverts.

Detroit Free Press reports the advert, called “Dare Greatly,” pulls the famous “Man in the Arena” passage from President Theodore Roosevelt’s 35-page “Citizenship in a Republic” speech at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, delivered April 23, 1910, though no credit is given to the historic president:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming … who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Aside from the lack of credit, all versions of the advert to be shown during the Oscars telecast offer plenty of views of the brand’s new home of New York, but none of its products. Representative David Caldwell said two other ads will also air Sunday evening, with at least one featuring a Cadillac. The ads are the first created by Publicis Worldwide for the brand; the agency replaced Detroit-based Lowe Campbell Ewald last year.

#Advertising #Cadillac #Oscars2015 #PublicisWorldwide

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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12 of 47 comments

Pch101 on Feb 19, 2015

TR was a progressive Republican, an animal that no longer exists. The Oscars are held at a place that used to be called the Kodak Theatre, named for a company that went from being dominant to bankrupt. There's just too much bad symbolism here for one post.

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- Corey Lewis on Feb 19, 2015
  
  Dude stop being so critical! Cadillac sent me a presentation on LaserDisc, and their reasons for this ad really make good sense.
  
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- PrincipalDan on Feb 19, 2015
  
  @Corey Lewis The quote is from a speech he gave called "Citizenship in a Republic". I actually have the full TR quote hanging outside my office in a frame as a big eff you to my critics that do nothing but pick at the minute of how I might be trying to get things done. Here's the full quote - http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7-it-is-not-the-critic-who-counts-not-the-man Unfortunately most of them are too dense to understand.
  
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- Pch101 on Feb 19, 2015
  
  @Corey Lewis I collected enough box tops to get my presentation through the mail.
  
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- Pch101 on Feb 19, 2015
  
  @PrincipalDan In the abstract, it's a good quote. But in light of the insularity and inability to acknowledge mistakes that led the Old GM to fail, I have my doubts that this is the best mantra for the company to follow. There are times when critics provide valuable insight. The answer isn't to ignore all critics, but to know the difference between a good one and a bad one.
  
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- PrincipalDan on Feb 19, 2015
  
  @Pch101 There are two types of critics: Experts in the field who criticize the "work" not "you." The second type is the irrational who simply criticize "you" and it wouldn't matter how perfectly the "work" was done. Teddy is speaking generally but I've always tried to distinguish between them. Cadillac should have just ran a commercial with the words "We Love our Haters".
  
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- Pch101 on Feb 19, 2015
  
  @Pch101 Well, there's more to it than that. A lot of the experts failed in their analysis of GM. One flaw with expertise: It tends to do well with normal circumstances, but not with crisis or extremes. Crisis management is a different ballgame, but average experts can't play because they are accustomed to dealing with typical situations, not the outliers. Collapse of a major automotive concern is not typical. They were not schooled in handling it. Rick Wagoner was an "expert," yet this was well beyond him. His predecessor and mentor Jack Smith was widely regarded as a success, when he in fact helped to plant the seeds for failure by creating too much dependency on one kind of product (large US-market pickups.) The equity analysts also completely blew it. They bought the management BS about labor costs, while missing the branding and revenue problems that were the essence of the problem. When customers start bailing out and the ones who remain demand unsustainable high discounts, then failure is just a matter of time.
  
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- NoGoYo on Feb 19, 2015
  
  I'd probably read a book about the rise and fall of Kodak, if such a thing exists.
  
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- Pch101 on Feb 19, 2015
  
  @NoGoYo The PBS/ Ken Burns series on the Roosevelts wasn't bad. (A bit fawning, IMO, but still worth watching.)
  
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28-Cars-Later on Feb 19, 2015

What's brilliant about the ad is it never shows the Cadillac that failed while daring greatly.

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Turf3 on Feb 19, 2015

So are they also going to use the Theodore Roosevelt quote about "malefactors of great wealth"?

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Stanczyk on Feb 20, 2015

' who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly ' - that's a 'goodby message' from Cadillac ? .. they know they gonna fail ?:) Whose that sad voice in this video .. Melody Lee's ? .. I thought she is trendy, creative and .. full of enthusiasm .. :)

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