A clever TTAC commentator scanned internet archives and found this little gem. It's the script for aspiring actors looking to apply for GM's CPO ambush ads. As anyone who's ever watched the carefully-planned spontaneity of reality TV knows, it's no surprise that GM decided how to embarrass private sellers before they embarrassed them, and used professionals. But it's still a bit queasy-making to see the non-pro sellers' replies pre-established on paper. And there are still a few questions about Ambush-gate that I'd like answered. Were the ambushees given a heads-up before taping? Were they given the script? How many sellers did they film who refused to sign a release? How much did GM have to pay to get people to agree to this? How much did this campaign cost? [thanks to AW for the tip]
15 Comments on “GM CPO “Ambush” Ad’s Casting Call...”
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I think everything here was scripted. I don’t think they actually “ambushed” real sellers, they just had actors appear as “sellers”. Unless I am missing something from the original video.
Looking at the casting call ad, did anyone else notice that the top says “*Please pick 2 out of 4 to work on!”, but that there are actually eight scenarios?
Remind me why I would want to buy from a company that appears to embarrass private sellers of what might be perfectly good vehicles?
I have dealt with my share of crummy dealers.
Let’s start a website where consumers are outfitted with hidden mics and cameras to record all their transactions. The web can ID the date, dealer, sales person and transaction costs. Run it all via YouTube.
Seriously why does buying a consumer product so painful?
BTW, I think they stole the whole idea from a local regional car dealer campaign in San Jose, CA. It was a series of radio spots exactly like the Ambush commercial. Those ads used to be on local radio all the time. They were kind of comical in that setting.
That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever read. Don’t people know that about buying a car from someone? They need GM to make commercials for it? Of course the guy isn’t going to finance the car, or have them in a different color. Guess what, your GM dealer may not have them in the color you want either.
Truly ponderous.
I hope that GM gets sued for defamation over this.
I hope that GM gets sued for defamation over this.
Over what? A completely scripted scenario?
The whole campaign is demented. Viewers will look at this and think… “GM doesn’t understand private seller used cars? What else don’t they understand?”
And GM’s wrong about at least one thing… I’ve twice asked sellers to let my mechanic check the car I was considering and they both agreed. If I was selling a car, I’d agree to that, too.
By the way, if GM did this to me, I’d certainly sue, unless they actually bought the car from me. If they’re not serious about buying the car but simply want me on camera as part of an ad campaign, then they’re sing fraudulent means to deprive me of something valuable… my time.
I’m pretty sure I could find a lawyer willing to take the case.
Typical manipulation of facts by a big corporation. Scripted well any situation can project theimage you desire and GM’s intent is there for all to see
I wonder if anybody ever thought to sue Proctor & Gamble because somebody switched out their morning coffee with Folgers decaf? I mean, they have a legitimate case, right? Think of the lost productivity because they didn’t have their daily dose of caffeine.
So they engineered the entire fiasco. Yes it is demented! But it’s not surprising. I despise “reality television,” because it is precicely so fake.
The lawyers here can certainly chime in, but I don’t think you can sue for your “valuable time” lost, if you were victimized by this evil campaign. You have to have financial damages.
I suppose maybe you could show that nobody will buy your car because GM embarrassed you on national television. Or if you can prove that you were prevented from working at your job for x hours, then a financial damage can possibly be calculated.
But it’s sill a bit of a stretch.
I can get back at GM much more effectively, simply by doing the right thing. That is not buy their vehicles, and to do all I can to prevent my loved ones from buying their vehicles.
Thank you for explaining why we need to put a clamp on frivolous lawsuits.
Can you imagine Honda or Toyota doing this? “don’t buy our incredibly reliable used vehicles from someone else, because they might not be quite as stunningly reliable as buying ones that we glanced at from our dealers?”
“Oh BTW, we are not leasing vehicles anymore because our guarantees on the residuals are killing us.”
Hey people-
I didn’t work on this campaign, but I’m in the reality TV/advertising arena, and I know how they cast this. If you listen closely to the videos, you’ll notice that they were filmed in vegas–Nevada is one of the only states where you can film hidden camera content. (New york is another) Anyway, this was ENTIRELY unscripted, with the exception of the actor playing the “buyer”. The casting script is written for two people because casting agents need a script for the non-existent person to read, that is, to cast an actor, they need something to react to. Thus, the writers usually write scripts that include ANTICIPATED responses from the second party (in this case, the seller) so the featured actor can be evaluated on his acting skills. I believe the buyer is doing mostly improv, and if you watch the content on the laptop to the right of the main monitors, he talks about how he has an earwig to listen to the director feeding him lines. So don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions that this was fake. I personally think it’s a nice piece of reality/hidden camera production.
- Mike
I don’t think it would be all that hard for a few people with hidden cams to return the favor to GM’s CPO program and post the results on YouTube. They probably would not even have to script anything.