SFGate reports that the Chevy Corvette ad directed by Guy Ritchie has become a PR nightmare. The ad shows the daydream of a young lad - clearly too young to drive - taking a sleek Chevy corvette for a fast flying ride to the tunes of Jumpin' Jack Flash. Consumer safety groups protested saying "This ad is certainly among the most dangerous, anti-safety messages to be aired on national television in recent years", and Chevy yanked it off the air. The ad can be viewed by super adgrunts here. Chevy Corvette Dream
SPECIAL NOTE: Super towards the bottom of the screen at the beginning of the spot: "This is a dream. Do not drive without a license. Obey all traffic laws."
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a great contender for "lamest ban of the year" award, with Adidas tennis coach nicking the gold.
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PermalinkGood ad. Good concept. Killed by folks who believe good parenting is having anti-depressants prescribed to their kids in lieu of family communication and support, marshmallows are a choking hazard, dreams and imagination are evil and unproductive, and television's primary role is to raise their kids so that mommy and daddy have more time to drink their gin.
I'm not a fan at all of the Corvette body designs over the last few years, but this spot did help it along at least a little bit with the cool factor. If they bring back the look of the late 50s/early 60s, I just might consider it when I hit middle-age.
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PermalinkRight on, Claymore.
Never mind that Corvette is one of America's lamest, tackiest brands... The fact that this ad has been banned speaks volumes about everything that's going on in America during this particular Epoch.
Clearly, there's no place in this goddamn country for imagination. Because, God only knows, there are loads of little kids comandeering their father's corvettes. And, God only knows, when you put something on the Church formally known as television, you're bound to cause imitators. And, God only knows, I keep building all kinds of contraptions to try and kill this pesky Roadrunner bird whose self-confidence keeps tormenting me...
Right.
The point is, this is the wrong time to involved in advertising. Look how reactionary it's all gone.
Pathetic.
Absolutely pathetic...
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PermalinkWell they're being ultra careful in case of the inevitable lawsuits a la "Jackass" ("my son died imitating a stunt on your show!").
Once in awhile you do hear about an underaged kid deciding to drive. Sometimes there have been fatalities (though rarely), like what happened last year in Cleveland when a 5 yr old decided one early morning to drive his grandma's Ford Taurus. Amazingly the 3'7" tyke was able to reach the pedals but couldn't quite see over the dash at the same time; it hit another car down the street and the airbag, deploying at 100 MPH, killed him.
Well, young'uns, just wait and your time to be able to drive will come.
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PermalinkAutoweek has a damn good opinion piece on this whole silly thing.
[clickage note] For some strange reason, the Autoweek link only works about 50% of the time. If you don't get it the first time, try again. Repeat as necessary.
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PermalinkSeen from where I sit, (in Denmark) I can only say, that its a very neat, and wonderful fantasy they are sending to all of us middleage men, who never did get to have a Corvette in the garage. No need to take it off, it's a nice and happy dream for every boy, and man for that matter.
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PermalinkConsider this. "Jumpin'jack" Middlebrook, head of GM domestic advertising and marketing just got upped to head of global marketing and advertiing. Mark LaNeve head of Cadillac marketing took his place. Head of Marketing at Hummer is now head of strategy at GM. They pulled the plug on dead guy Harley Earle at Buick this week. The top ranks at GM are getting more and more edgy every day. What if they produced and ran this spot JUST TO PULL IT, knowing the controversy would get Corvette more airplay on the 6 o'clock news (which it did) then any network buy. Could the guys who put LedZep behind Caddie and leaped ahead 4% in sales be that smart?
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