General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat is GM thinking with this new Cadillac ad?
"There are plenty of things to celebrate about being American, but being possessed by a blind mania for working yourself into the ground, buying more stuff, and mocking people in other countries just isn't one of them."
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/03/08/what-is-general-motors-thinking-with-this-new-cadi.aspx?source=eogyholnk0000001
newfie11
(8,159 posts)It irritates me every time it comes on.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)I would always tune it out when it came on. It wasn't until recently that I even realized what the commercial is for.
TransitJohn
(6,932 posts)that it's really a smart commercial. It's just not talking to us.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)people who don't like the ad probably wouldn't buy a Caddy no matter how they advertised it.
MADem
(135,425 posts)The poor actor playing the part, from what I understand from a person who knows him, is nothing like that noxious shitbird he portrays in the ad.
I think a rich, hard working feller would be savvy enough to dig his ill fitting shorts out of his asscrack....that's my take-away with that ad.
Who was that country singer who said "That don't impress me much?" That's my sense of the advertisement!!
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)Lonusca
(202 posts)we have a great ad on their hands. The exposure and debate has been far reaching. Somewhere around a conference table a few months ago I'm pretty sure someone did say "this will make us look like pompous assholes". And then someone said "Yes it will - air it".
Like the message or not - this has been a very successful campaign to bring awareness to the ELR. Whether any of that translates to sales or not will be determined.
I don't necessarily agree that talking about an ad = success, but if it actually makes money for the company, then yes.
Lonusca
(202 posts)then it's a successful ad. It garnered way more awareness than they could have hoped.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)I think if a paid advertisement does not generate intended sales then it's a failure. If the intention was to generate buzz and that's all, then ok, but I don't subscribe to the belief that all publicity is good publicity when it comes to products.
Lonusca
(202 posts)As someone mentioned down thread - this is a branding ad. It wasn't a President's Day "We pay the tax so get down here fast" ad.
How or if Cadillac can play in the luxury hybrid field is TBD.
I don't subscribe to the belief publicity is good publicity when it comes to products either. Tesla battery fires are not good publicity.
PCIntern
(25,582 posts)Classless and indistinct. Could be a Nissan or Toyota.
Logical
(22,457 posts)former9thward
(32,077 posts)Very few have any distinctions and the ones that do are ugly.
Blecht
(3,803 posts)Sociopaths born into money who think they've earned it will lap up this crap.
pintobean
(18,101 posts)Hestia
(3,818 posts)enlightenment
(8,830 posts)I would love to think that it is, rather than this sad reflection of how far we have regressed.
jollyreaper2112
(1,941 posts)If this ad was in the new rococop I would have thought it perfect. But it's for a real company and a real product. Can you really sell a car on edgy?
This is like Burger King running with the creepy-as-fuck king mascot. What are they selling? They did a sponge bob commercial with a square butt parody of baby got back. Are we sexualizing kids cartoons to sell happy meals? Again, it would be funny as an snl skit for product placement gone wrong but it's real.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)As evidenced by the comments:
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/cadillacs-new-ad-totally-inspiring-or-completely-repulsive-155703
Rex
(65,616 posts)Greed is STILL good, never left the 80s.
penultimate
(1,110 posts)jmowreader
(50,562 posts)The second verse of Billy Joel's "Movin' Out":
Sergeant O'Leary is walkin' the beat
At night he becomes a bartender
He works at Mr. Cacciatore's down on Sullivan Street
Across from the medical center
Yeah, he's tradin' in his Chevy for a Cadillac-ac-ac-ac
You oughta know by now
And if he can't drive with a broken back
At least he can polish the fenders."
Americans have been insulting the French for decades because they have two-hour lunches with wine and the country shuts down in August. There must be something to two-hour lunches and month-long vacations because French people live two years longer than Americans and they're not pissed off all the time.
Marr
(20,317 posts)Who You Are ads are common in things like cold medication ads, cleaning supplies, etc. Car commercials are almost exclusively Who You Want to Be-- *especially* the luxury car market. These are products people buy because they want to project and image.
Sam Hamm does the voiceover in the Mercedes Benz ads, even though his voice is wholly unremarkable. Mercedes Benz knows that doesn't matter-- what matters is that they've got Don Draper in their ad, and a big chunk of their audience likes to think of themselves as Don Draper.
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)Not sure who Sam is. Sam I Hamm.
Marr
(20,317 posts)Sam Hamm is writer.
Logical
(22,457 posts)distantearlywarning
(4,475 posts)The first time I ever saw it (during the Super Bowl), I actually started yelling at the TV.
"No, I don't 'n'est-ce pas', you arrogant, deluded jackass!"
I find this ad repulsive to the point of outright offensiveness. Workaholism is not a fucking virtue, and the meaning of life is not to acquire as much random consumer crap as possible. Also, it would be fucking AWESOME to live in country like France where everyone gets 6 weeks of vacation a year.'
The best part: I am actually in an income bracket where that car would be within my reach. And I would MUCH rather live in France, with higher taxes but mandatory vacations, then have that car. Fuck that car. Fuck overwork. Fuck "stuff". Fuck this shitty, sad American mindset where these kind of jackasses think that what people will wish on their deathbed is that they worked more and had more stuff. What a horrible lie this commercial is feeding to the American public.
MADem
(135,425 posts)The insurance and taxes would take too big a bite.
Like I said, though, who would take advice from a guy who can't even buy a pair of shorts that fit? Those things are crawling up that guy's ass...that's not a swagger; he's probably trying to dislodge the damn things!!!
ileus
(15,396 posts)jollyreaper2112
(1,941 posts)This was one successful ad. God, we are a dumbfuck nation.
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)(which I didn't) then it almost surely isn't targeted toward you.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)I actually know people who think ( and say ) the exact same way the protagonist in the ad does. Flag-waving US chauvanist workaholics that always gotta be #1 in some way.
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)Never having grabbed hold of anything resembling an authentic, fulfilled life.
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)Never having grabbed hold of anything resembling an authentic, fulfilled life.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)Either they're very religious "honor thy boss....no matter what" types who take the "protestant work ethic" bullshit to the extreme, or they are/were power hungry sorts that have to be on top of the heap always....even if they die trying....happy knowing they did their best.
I'm not kidding or using hyperbole: I know people just like this. Some are even family