Needing/Getting The Truth?

Chevrolet threw a lot of money at the marketing plan for the Daewoo Kalos all-new Sonic. Any time there’s money in the air, it’s like blood in the water; it brings the sharks. Flirtatious sharks, who know that it’s best to play hard to get. They start by winking across the bar at the mark. Then there’s a brief bit of dangerously witty banter, followed by the frantic, drunken consummation. What’s after that? The payoff, of course: a sponsored conversation, a cross-promotion, the messy, wet details of a cash exchange.

And then there’s the hip way.

I need to start out by providing the strongest possible disclaimer. I’m about to send you to a website chock-full of hideously offensive content. There aren’t any pictures on the site, but the top headline at the time of this writing is deliberately designed to shock and offend. (Ironically, it’s a community site, and the top headline is an assault on the site founder.) So don’t click it at work, don’t click it in front of your kids, okay?

With that said, the piece, entitled The Rock Star As Charismatic CEO, is absolutely worth reading from beginning to end. It’s social criticism in general and a discussion of the “reality” of the OK Go! Chevrolet Sonic advertorial in particular. You are almost certain to come away from the article with at least one train of thought in your mind which isn’t currently running as we speak.

Do I agree with the author? At least in part — but the best part is that when the article was written, we had yet to see the fall of the “charismatic rock star” at Chevrolet. There’s extra resonance to be had now. Go check it out.

Disclaimer: the author has been a member of the k5 community for more than a decade but received no compensation from this desolate husk of a dead website.