Tuesday, October 17, 2006

That Terrible Chevy Ad

Seth Stevenson is all over it:
Maybe the red-state viewer, to whom the ad is likely directed (I assume that's the main target market for pickups), interprets the overall statement as an optimistic, can-do, morning-in-America kind of thing: We've come through the bad times and we're ready to kick some ass again. But to me, this spot feels more like the advertising equivalent of Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech. It arrives at an awkward, unsettled moment in the American psyche (underscored by the 9/11 and Katrina imagery in the montage), and it almost seems the ad hopes to capture the essence and feeling of that moment. Dredging up all these depressing incidents in our recent past, and then saying, "This is our country," sure seems like an effort to address our "crisis of confidence."

I guess I'd ask Chevy: How'd that strategy work out for Carter?

Grade: D. Automotive blog Jalopnik reports that an early version of the ad included footage of a nuclear mushroom cloud. Well, that would have brightened things up. I wonder if they could squeeze in the Rodney King beating and the Abu Ghraib photos, too.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Plus, the song is by Mellencamp who has written a number of anti-Bush songs and has used his concerts in a Dixie Chick manner.
I cannot believe that Chevy did not know what they were doing here and I am glad that I do not own a Chevy.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I am not the only one who noticed that weird ad. You'd think there was a better way to try to say what they're trying to say.

Anonymous said...

American believe what they SEE, what has happened in the middle east for 2000 years, what they heard, phone conversations, records, video evidence, and people who are actually know what they are talking about, as opposed to enlightenment who obviously has not had any physics courses, or knowledge of planes, high tech balancing devices, or anything remotely close to what he is actually mentioning. really i was hoping you would come up with a theory that actually made sense, not something you had to squeeze to fit your political intolerance.