Mazda's New Ad Campaign Uses Ben Collins and a Dog to Suggest Consumers Are Idiots
Mazda, which has seen its previously strong sales slip in Israel, feels the brand has developed a bum rap. Its once-exciting cars have become unworthy of praise in the Jewish republic — claims the company finds flagrantly objectionable.
So, rather than take the perceived abuse lying down, the automaker developed the “Prepare to be Amazed” campaign in response. Its essence isn’t that Mazda begs to differ with naysayers, but that the general public is simply wrong in its assumptions.
It’s the advertising equivalent of telling off the school bully while putting on a pair of sunglasses and moonwalking home.
The problem, as Mazda puts it, is that the brand’s popularity made it “the queen of the roads,” and that ubiquity also made it appear dull to consumers. The company says that, as a result, it was forced to address “all the wrong conceptions that are associated to the brand.”
Setting consumers straight on the matter is ex-Stig Ben Collins, three drunken lab assistants, a picture-taking dog, and four ludicrous experiments staged atop an unfinished bridge. All of the spots begin with the grateful acknowledgment of of a boring — but positive — trait attributed to Mazda before the tackling of a much harsher criticism.
It may be first time I’ve ever witnessed a company recognizing its own condemnations while also telling potential customers that they have no idea what they are talking about.
Each experiment addresses a specific complaint: Concerns over the cars having insufficient safety systems are met with Collins driving blind near the edge of the bridge using lane-assist to keep himself from going over. Claims that Mazdas are not exciting enough result in the ex-Stig outmaneuvering a drone with a paintball gun. Worries that the company has released a dull product sees a mentally deficient dog with a GoPro strapped to its back taking handsome photos of a Mazda6 — “proving” that the company can make its product look glorious without even trying.
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I bet a Mazda6 with a Chevy V8 would be pretty awesome.
Is this the same Mazda that told my friend to get lost when his Mazda Protege was a rust bucket when it was only 4 years old and that the front strut mounts rotted so much the car had to be junked? Mazda is a junk brand.