Death Proof, The Anti

My recent experience in a low priced rental car has reminded me how deadly some cars can still feel. All the vehicles I drive or ride in, have some layer of safety built into the experience. Maybe I'm lucky. There isn't a constant voice in your head saying,"If you hit a rock, cone, or small animal you will probably die." Unfortunately, being driven around in a base model Hyundai Accent threw that right out the window.

I would like to say it was just the little things that made the experience terrifying, but it wasn't. It's the whole package. Now, I will be honest and say the driver did not make the ordeal any less of an adventure, but the car definitely had a huge hand in it. We're talking NBA player hand big. At one point my friend tried parallel parking on a rather steep grade. On her first two attempts she began to roll so quickly forward she panicked and hit the brakes. The engine put so little power out at idle, that it did not slow forward motion. For the first time since my childhood, I became co-pilot to pilot and operated the hand brake.

With the pressure off, and the gas pedal smashed we successfully backed up the hill. The parallel parking wasn't very successful, but the 14" tires managed to take the rather brutal curb beating. Luckily she wasn't even close to straightening out, so it was solely rubber on concrete action.

I typically find freeway on ramps exhilarating, and one of the sole opportunities these day to give my car a solid kick at the power. How quickly we forget that on ramp mergers are a death defying act for some other members of the driving community. The small hamster wheel buzzes on it's hinges, the 175 wide tires holds on with the grip of soggy bread, and the body bobs amongst the monstrous seas of SUV's.

Sure, with America's greatest warranty it may be fine on its own for a while, but a single minor accident would probably take the entire thing out. I am confident in Hyundai becoming a real world competitor to Honda and Toyota very soon, but this was a reminder to me that some low priced base models are freakin scary to drive!

The Volvo C30 Website and Shorts (Automotive Advertising)

An uncoventional approach to advertising has been taken with the new Volvo C30. Rather than creating an environment of only love and admiration for their new vehicle, they have embraced all point of views. Love it or hate it, Volvo wanted to know.

It turns out, they not only wanted to know, but have used those opinions to make sylistic short ads. I have not personally seen them on tv, but I believe they are being shown in some select markets. Lucky for us, the entire group of them are featured on the c30 mini site. (Check it out here) It's definitely worth a look. They are all pretty strange (bottom left corner in particular), and don't really give much insight into the vehicle beyond appearence. A few are entertaining in a Monty Python quirky animated type of way. I give Volvo kuddos for doing something a little more youthful and exciting. It could go a long way towards making Volvo a viable vehicle choice for consumers under 35, not including all those teenagers driving old Volvos of course.

Slow News Week

Not to make excuses, but it has been a bit of a slow news week. If you don't see new postings here, I encourage you to scroll to the bottom of the page, where I have included streaming content feeds from a few of my favorite automotive sites.

Lexus LS600h (Automotive Advertising)

I have been wanting to write an article on a certain television spot for the Lexus LS600h for quite some time. I originally saw the commercial during March Madness, but have been unable to find it on youtube, or any other site for that matter. Luckily, I have been in contact with the agency that created the spot, and hope to get a link to it soon. I will keep you posted.

In regards to the actual vehicle, a full test just came from Edmunds.com. (Check it out here) I would be lieing if I said I wasn't dissapointed, but I will withold my review until I have read some other automotive publications and driven the vehicle myself.

Because this is such a niche vehicle, road tests will have little to no hand in sales. The vehicle is for a very specific group of consumers. It's not being bought by people that will care the LS460 is as fast, with better highway gas mileage. It's all about making a statement. Unfortuantely the biggest statements aren't always made with logic.

I still applaud Lexus for their work with hybrid technology. The GS450h for example, is great. It is faster than it non-hybrid V8 counterpart, but actually receives better gas mileage for both Highway and City driving. It makes a little more sense than the LS600h model. With the GS450h we have a v6 paired with an electric motor thus providing better performance and gas mileage than the same vehicle equipped with a larger engine. The LS600h however, is a v8 just like the LS460. The weight of the hybrid system seems to counteract the benefit of the hybrid system in this case, and since no economy is gained from the use of smaller engine, there aren't any real gains. A LS450h would be more logical, but would not hit the market Lexus wanted to hit with this LS600h.

I suppose in a world of lesser evils, a sign of opulence that's a hybrid might be better than a pure sign of opulence. It might steer a few people away from V12 models (BMW, Lexus, Audi) that get gas mileage in the low teens and put out worse emissions.

New Ford Edge Spots Inspire Ad Review

First an analysis of the most recent U.S. Ford Edge Spots, followed by an overall review of the Edge's Advertising in all markets.

Ford has these new advertising spots for the Edge that were brought to my attention by autoblog.com. New spots for the Edge? Yea the Edge. It's compared against the BMW X5 in acceleration, and the Lexus RX350 in quietness. The BMW X5 and Lexus RX350? That's right. Hmmmm. It wins both comparisons. Both? Yes, both. True story. Take a look at them below. Below? Yes, directly below.

Spot 1

Spot 2


I'm here to say the ads are very annoying. Maybe I don't fit into the target audience that cares David Mamet directed the spots but for my perspective they just are not good. Mamet, as wikipedia so eloquently states, "is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. His works are known for their clever, terse, sometimes vulgar dialogue, arcane stylized phrasing, and for his exploration of masculinity. As a playwright, he received Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997)."

Based on this information, as far as I can tell, whatever advertising agency copy writer did these spots, wrote copy matching the format Mr. Mamet typically does his dialogue in, and then placed it in a spot he directed. (He may have written the copy himself, but I assume he would be listed as writer as well, not just director) That hackism is not a recipe for success

These ads are bad for other reasons too. Each spends thirty seconds on a rather odd and minute detail drawn out from comparison. Much like the Hyundai ads I JUST wrote about, the Edge is being compared with vehicles that people don't really cross shop with. This spots end up flushing out not that cool bragging rights for people who may already own the Edge, but do little else. Again, similar to the Hyundai ad, the vehicle is compared to a BMW which it can beat in a single category, rather than to vehicles it actually competes with. There is an obvious answer for why those comparisons are avoided. The Edge wouldn't win in those. I will say I was surprised to learn the cabin of the edge was quieter than that of an RX350, but I doubt that fact alone will get people into the showroom. Especially when the message is delivered in such an annoying pseudo intelligent manor. This commercials depressed me so much, that I had to see what others ads the Ford Edge has had, both here and abroad.

International Review

Pre-Launch U.S. Spot

If you remember any advertising for the Ford Edge thus far, it is most likely this first U.S. spot which featured a Ford Edge, driving on the edge of buildings etc. Strike one, visual pun, but you can't call it an out yet. Strike two, an actual pun at the end of the spot with "The Edge is never dull." I might be feeling generous at the moment, but I will not call a strike 3 on this spot. It's not a great spot, or even a good spot, but it did build some buzz, feature an original song, and feature some high level CGI. It is far from the best Ford Edge spot however.

Urban Market Spot

For the urban market, Ford has a tendency to use celebrity endorsements. Funk Master Flex has had a continuing endorsement deal with Ford for example. Dwayne Wade has advertised the Lincoln Navigator. For the Edge, Ford recruited Kelis, who you may remember for the song featured in the Carl's Junior Milk Shake ad. The spot is cliche, but makes good use of that huge sun roof to unveil the secondary star of the ad. I would rate this ad below the Pre Launch U.S. spot. It doesn't help that I'm not a fan of solely using celebrity endorsements. Although, Cadillac has done an excellent job with them in their Escalade campaign (Barber, and Garcia)

Spanish/Latino Market

This spot, while suffering a bit in the production value department, does deliver with a message that is fresh. It's a new angle ending to an old cliche beginning, and makes for a relatively better ad than the others thus far. Despite, its telenovella saturated color, feel, and over the top reactions from the woman, it does alright.

Canadian Market Spot

I don't know if this is just plain stereotypical or perfect market accuracy that caused the Canadian Ford Edge Spot to start with some hockey footage, and be endorsed by Wayne Gretzky, but it's funny either way. Besides that irony, the spot is just ok, and more of a generic Ford branding ad than the others. The Edge is featured as a game changer, just like the Great, but besides that, nothing interesting is brought to the table.

Asian American Market Spot

This ad, for what I assume is the Asian American Market, has a nice twist on what seems to be a cliche beginning, much like the Latin market spot. It could of done with some better music, but I thought the sexiness and edginess (no pun intended) of the ad was refreshing. It is my second favorite spot out of all the those featured today.

Middle Eastern Market Spot

I've saved the best for last so I hope you have made it here with me. In an unusual turn, it is the Middle Eastern Market which has produced the most hip, refreshing, exciting ad of the group. I am not an expert in this area, but it appears they have managed to do so without tarnishing the cultural. The spot posted is 1 minute, versus the 30 second of other spots. It does unfairly get more time to develop than the others, but even the 30 second teaser version I saw blew the other market spots away when viewed in pure advertising terms. Each spot posted above hits aims for their specific market. As an outsider, I simply think this one is the best ad, regardless of market.

The song featured sparked a lot of interest on forums and websites. The dancing crew which populates the commercial goes by the name of SWAT, and hails from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. (If you have any interest in hip hop dancing take a search for some SWAT videos on youtube) There is a level of authenticity in this spot, that can't be fabricated easily. (if at all) Enjoy.

That's a Huge Cab (Automotive Advertising)

Spots for the new Toyota Tundra have been all over the place, including the Super Bowl. The recent ads feature the Crewmax configuration which is just monstorous. I had seen pictures on the offical Toyota website, but these two 15 second shorts, shown back to back in most cases, really illustrate how much room we're talking about. It makes for a cartoon looking truck, but probably a very comfortable one. In short, the spots are effective at getting the size of the cab across. I especially like the copy for the second 15 second spot.

Land Rover and Hyundai Cross Shoppers (Automotive Advertising)

I've caught this new Hyundai ad with Doctor Frasier Crane (Side Show Bob, Beast, Kelsey Grammer or whatever) doing the voice over. I'm not sure how effective it will be. It compares the Land Rover LR3 to the Hyundai Sante Fe in various different performance benchmarks including 0-60, quarter mile, dry and wet slalom, dry and wet accident avoidance tests. It did however lose out in cup holders. (Oddly enough, a significant stat for a family suv)

Now, I have a couple problems with the spot. First off, I don't think many people considering the Sante Fe are cross shopping with the LR3. The motive may really be to show value, a more expensive suv is severely outperformed by a less expensive one. The problem with comparisons between vehicles no one actually compares, is that they don't stand for much. A much better ad would have the Sante Fe and a more comparably priced SUV, a la Toyota Rav4, compared. (although the Rav4 would beat the Sante Fe in most of those categories) A comparison like the one featured in the ad ends up being more of a gimmick. At least they got Side Show Bob.

UPDATE: Another spot with the same idea is airing comparing the Hyundai Sonata with the BMW 525i. Same problems with this spot, as the other.