Acura Takes a Sepia-Toned Selfie With Its BFF, the Millennial Car Buyer

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Acura is turning 30, and to celebrate, it’s turning its attention away from the yuppy Gen-Xers who first discovered the brand to the hopeful, car-buying Millennials of today.

It’s not pandering for vehicle sales, it’s a relationship, see?

Honda’s luxury marque just launched a marketing campaign that seems perfectly designed to lure in the largest-growing segment of car buyers. Called “30 Years Young,” the ad plays up Acura’s status as the leading luxury brand of this age demographic, while stroking the ego of the Millennial buyer.

“Sure, you used rail against authority and smoke weed while skipping the 20th Century English Lit course your parents paid for, but just because your’re weighing drapery options with your longtime partner and thinking of joining a community association doesn’t mean you’re not still an edgy individualist!”

Acura chose better words for its campaign, implying that fun can still be had after your anarchist days have waned, and that its vehicles are still part of that journey.

The Acura NSX is something to work for — I mean, who wouldn’t spend a few extra hours tweeting about “brands” from the marketing office if NSX ownership was remotely within reach — but entry-level models like the ILX tempt Millennials the most.

Knowing that, the automaker’s new ad features a silhouetted ILX getting airborne on a closed course, and it deserves credit for doing that. Frankly, all car ads would be better if it showed the model getting airborne, especially crossovers and minivans.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Fred Fred on Apr 30, 2016

    TTAC: how about a poll on car commercials good and bad I'd post this in the forum group but it's not working for me. ps I vote for Audi.

    • Hubcap Hubcap on Apr 30, 2016

      I posted a couple of Honda commercials above that I thought were well done. To me, some Audi commercials are good, others are kinda insufferable with the anti traditional luxury theme they like to use. I'll nominate VW. For the most part, I've always enjoyed their commercials and felt they're very well done.

  • Bd2 Bd2 on May 02, 2016

    Acura has the lowest average age b/c they hardly sell any at higher price points (see RLX sales) and have increasingly been reliant on CUVs (mom-duty) for sales.

  • S2k Chris S2k Chris on May 02, 2016

    As the guy that has bought 3 new Acuras and currently owns 2, let me "defend" the brand to some extent. I'm also an old millenial (born in '82). First off, the usual criticism that Acura is "just a nicer Honda" always cracks me up, because, for a large part, that's exactly what Acura customers want. A reliable, relatively feature rich middle of the road car/SUV, with a badge that says they can pay 10% more than their Honda-driving neighbors. And in the meat of the market (MDX/RDX/TLX) it works pretty well. The RLX is a dud, like Acura's entry in that segment has been for about 20 years, and the ILX stumbled hard out of the gate but improved somewhat, and should improve more when the updated one based on the new Civic is released. For me though, what is hard to understand is how people see Acura come up as a big loser against its realistic competition. For the $35-40k I might pay for a TLX, what can I buy? -A micro "fake" German like the CLA/A3/pending FWD 2-series that is still going to approach $50k equipped like a TLX Tech and fall apart right out of warranty -A stripped 3/C/A4 without any of the stuff that's to be expected at this price, plus terrible running costs if you keep it over ~60k miles -A Lexus IS or ES, which are sorta too sporty or too floaty/old man, plus they're both about 10-15% more expensive loaded up. And that grill. -An Infiniti what's it called, which is probably a nice car but who can keep it straight, and still, $50k with the features required. -A comically small ATS -A Buick, except who wants to admit they drive a Buick? -Various luxed-up versions of lower-end cars, Fusion, Accord, Camry, Sonata, 300, etc, which are indistinguishable from their lower-end brethern What else am I missing? I'll be honest, I've driven a couple TLXs, and they don't knock my socks off. But neither does anything else in the above list. I've got a hard limit of $40k I'm not willing to go over, which basically rules out anything from Germany that isn't a VW. I buy, not lease, and I keep longer term than any thinking man wants to own a German car. And I don't mind that a designer label Honda fits in a little better with all the leased Lexus/BMW/MB/Audis in the local parking lots in a moderately affluent town. I get that for a lot of enthusiasts, a stripped out BMW or Audi sounds better than a fancy Accord. But out in the real world, where it's all bumper to bumper and surface streets and crap, I don't get much out of the Germans to make up for the missing equipment (Automobile just tested a $50k M235i long term that didn't even have BT streaming or a real aux-in on the stereo!). In the real world where real people buy real cars and spend real money and expect them to really work, being pretty good in the $30-40k range is no bad thing. It isn't sexy, but for the segment of the population that isn't willing to pay inflated German prices or doesn't want to lease, Acura ain't exactly a bad call.

  • Jrasero23 Jrasero23 on Jul 01, 2016

    I can't stand the so called "Acura Loyalists" or the people who scream for only manual cars that resemble the RSX, Legend, or Type whatever. Acura in the beginning captured the younger market because simply they were affordable drivers cars, similar to what you see in modern Mazda's. It is true the average age for an Acura buyer has risen because tastes have changed. We don't live in this racer tuner boy Fast and the Furious culture anymore. People (majority) like being isolated from the road and to be coddled and they demand the appointments in an Acura you would find in a BMW. The problem was Acura was never about "luxury" appointments or even end all be all performance. People have this false sense of what Acuras were like in their heyday. I will admit Honda/ Acura as of late have had a hell of a time differentiating their two brands, but so has a lot of the car industry. The 2016 ILX is the great example of this. It got a refreshed 8 speed 2.4 liter DCT V-Tech engine that loves to rev and that would have been perfect in the original 2013 version, but some auto journalists thought the ILX was too loud for a luxury vehicle. Yet loyalists are always screaming how Honda is neutering their car with hiding their exhausts and no revealing engine noise enough. Acura also gave a ton of tech from safety to performance starting comfortably bellow $30k and plateauing at $35k, yet people still clamor that Acura has lost their way form be a tech value drive car company. I will admit it's hard to praise Acura when their interiors, styling and performance are so close to Honda's at times. The 2016 Civic Touring is simply a great value in what you get compared to the ILX and even can run with the ILX. The Accord besides having a CVT and no AWD is pretty much 90% of a TLX. The RDX while having an exclusive V6 has an interior that is on par if not worse than a CR-V. The 2017 MDX luxury wise is a step above the Pilot and does offer a hybrid model but the MDX and every other Acura product does not offer Apple Car Play or Android Auto, why!? I am not asking to jump from a Chevy to Cadillac quality, but I am asking give us something more. optional AWD on all models, standard base motors and transmissions better than any Honda, standard tech, and Acura stop caring about capturing the youth market, it's called inspirational for a reason.

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