Super Bowl Car Ads: Making the Grade, Failing Marks and No Shows
February 04, 2008

By Dale Buss

The New York Giants certainly achieved their Super Bowl objectives Sunday. Did car companies?

It’s too early to tell. But automakers led the way in a field of Super Bowl ads that largely disappointed on their creative merits and failed to generate the kind of instant excitement that could help them meet their marketplace goals. In some cases, it didn’t seem as if their advertising approach was actually consistent with the strategic challenges faced by the company.

And when you’re paying $2.7 million for 30 seconds of rapt attention by the biggest TV audience of the year, you really should take advantage of the opportunity.

But even when they hit the mark, automakers didn’t score big. To use a football analogy: Instead of “going deep” with a spectacular premise or breathtaking execution, the car companies mainly tried to chip their way down the field with short passes in the advertising equivalent of the West Coast offense.

Here’s an entirely subjective evaluation of the automotive ads from Fox Network’s Super Bowl–related broadcasting yesterday, based primarily on whether the spots seemed to support overarching corporate goals. They cover commercials from the pre-pre-game show through the post-game ceremonies (including ads by Nissan and Chrysler that were spot buys on a bunch of local channels around the country):

Head of the Class

Chevrolet: It didn’t bode well for Chevy when General Motors marketing brass reversed their initial decision to feature Chevrolet in the company’s single in-game spot. But the brand made the most of its opportunities Sunday by highlighting both the toughness of its trucks and its commitment to field vehicles using a wide range of green powertrains.

Chevy’s main coup was its marquee sponsorship of Howie Long’s pre-pre-game show, which focused on famous NFL “tough guys.” Spotlighting Chevrolet trucks made for great product placement within segments as well as consistent ad spots that included the likeable and credible Long touting Chevy’s E-85-capable trucks, its “lowest cost of ownership” in the segment, and its “best V8 fuel economy.”

During the actual four-hour pre-game show, Chevrolet shifted its emphasis entirely to fuel economy, with no fewer than four different spots. In three of them, a teacher-type led a bunch of curious kids through explanations of the green virtues of big Chevy E-85 trucks and hybrid SUVs. They were OK in getting the point across, and Chevy’s embrace of environmental progress as part of its brand identity was unmistakable.

But the most effective of the brand’s pre-game spots was a composite ad in which various types of consumers expressed green objectives that are being met either by existing Chevy models, such as its E-85 vehicles, or soon will be targeted by planned Chevy models such as the Volt plug-in hybrid. “From gas-friendly to gas-free” was Chevrolet’s promise, and the commercial made you a believer.

Making the Grade: A-Minus

Nissan: The company wants to build quickly on its 2007 marketplace momentum by introducing a new version of the Murano SUV with a bang. Its ads, aired on many local markets around the country in pre-game and during the Super Bowl telecast, should help do that.

One spot effectively told consumers Nissan refined the new Murano around what they actually wanted in a vehicle. Its no-nonsense focus on features turned out to be the industry’s most effective product push of the day. For several years Nissan’s marketing slogan has been “Shift” — an uber theme that at times has been effective but, more often, vague.

But this spot was refreshingly direct. As a Murano took shape in a woman’s driveway from the inside out, the ad depicted important and distinctive attributes of the crossover, including double-stitched leather seats, a moonroof and a navigation system. And at the end, as the vehicle skin applied itself, viewers also were reminded of Nissan’s design prowess.

Above Average: B

Audi: The German luxury brand scored the most pre-Super Bowl hype of any automaker for its ad modeled on the famous horse-head scene from "The Godfather." The spot is artfully filmed, right down to the Corleone-like patriarch awakening with oil stains on his hand and what looks like an old Mercedes grille — instead of an equine noggin — under his covers. And, my oh my, the new R-8 looked fantastic as it peeled out of the driveway.

But the punch line — “Old luxury just got put on notice” — rang a bit dry. With that kind of a vehicle to show off, maybe you don’t need to bother digging up "The Godfather"!

Cadillac: The GM luxury brand long has done a good job of leveraging its sole sponsorship of the post-game ceremonies. And it certainly was a more compelling moment than usual as Giants quarterback Eli Manning — instead of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — took the keys to 2008 Escalade as the game’s MVP. (It was a bit weird, though, that Fox host Terry Bradshaw had to mention Manning’s prize was a hybrid Escalade “that will be coming out this fall,” making the black Escalade that was sitting on the field only an abstract representation.)

In the course of the post-game coverage, Cadillac aired two commercials from an existing menu of highly effective brand-building advertisements that take advantage of nocturnal moodiness. One showed a guy driving an Escalade, where “even the windshield-washer fluid is hot” — and it is, in fact, heated. The other, for the CTS, featured actress Kate Walsh of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" asking, “When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?”

Grade: B-Minus

Toyota: Toyota ran an old ad for its Tundra pickup during the pre-game show, depicting it performing segment-topping feats of extraordinary mechanical athleticism. That was appropriate. It also ran a feel-good ad for the new Sequoia showing how the SUV could cart around, even off-road, the equipment required for a unique form of family fun.

But the carmaker really bet its Super Bowl chops on two new ads that ran during the game itself. And they were fine in reminding viewers of single attributes of two vehicles. With a lineup as broad and as widely accepted as Toyota’s these days, this laser-like focus made a certain amount of sense.

A Corolla commercial borrowed comedically from other companies’ past Super Bowl spots in underscoring the interior quiet of the subcompact. And another Sequoia ad effectively illustrated the new version of the SUV can transport seven rambunctious little kids — and a young-at-heart father — to a three-wheeler race, with their trikes piled on the luggage rack.

Jeep: It was pretty obvious Jeep wanted to let viewers know navigation systems are new and more widely available in its vehicles. That makes a lot of sense strategically as Chrysler executives try to refurbish the brand as the ultimate off-roading machine.

And with two spots Jeep showed during the pre-game show, its objective was accomplished. The ads humorously depicted clueless Jeep executives and researchers reaching the inevitable conclusion that consumers want nav systems in their Jeeps.

Average: C

Hyundai: A couple of weeks ago the company publicly mulled pulling out of the two slots it had planned to purchase during the Super Bowl telecast. After coming up with the two ads Hyundai ran for the new Genesis sedan, it’s possible they made the wrong decision to stay in.

The pair of ads stated clearly enough that Hyundai is aiming its $30,000-plus Genesis directly at the kingpins of true luxury including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus. And they said plainly that Genesis offers 375 horsepower. But neither provided enough other details about why we should believe the audacious comparison. One shows Genesis traversing the typical mountain road; the other has the car on a turntable.

More annoyingly, the ads are entirely too self-referential. Hyundai is not, for example, GoDaddy.com, with a previous body of Super Bowl work to which its new spots can refer with some effect. Nevertheless, Hyundai closed its first commercial by saying, “Right about now, you’re probably expecting some crazy big twist or something. Well, here it is” — and then “Hyundai” showed up on the screen, “revealing” the brand long associated with economy vehicles is presenting this new luxury sedan. In the second spot, the Hyundai announcer intoned, “We’re not sure what the USA Today Ad Meter will think about this commercial tomorrow.” Well, who cares?

GMC: It was a badge of honor for this once-forgotten GM division to land its first in-game Super Bowl spot in many years. And in the new Yukon hybrid, GMC had a great product to promote; one that both buttresses the brand and supports corporate objectives. GM certainly needs to revitalize demand for its high-profit large SUVs, and a hybrid option may be the way to do it.

But most of the spot had nothing to do with the Yukon hybrid. Instead, it used an actual piece of animation from an old film to tell the myth of Sisyphus. The voiceover struck a philosophical tone that was appropriate to the tale: “Why push? Why change? Why grow? Why dream?” But it wasn’t appropriate to the sale. Only at the very end did the spot show the vehicle tout its “50% better city mileage in a full-size SUV.”

Besides, the whole point about Sisyphus is he never did push that rock to the top of the mountain.

Below Average: D

Chrysler: The company was a latecomer to Super Bowl Sunday, announcing last week it would purchase a bunch of local-market slots to run a new corporate spot throughout the day. But the ad’s execution was disappointing.

The ad featured an animatronic boy asking viewers to imagine a car company that would build “great cars” so people could take “magical trips,” do it “guilt-free” because the vehicles sip fuel, and not worry because they’re backed “for life.” As he talked, he passed through a car company that looked like something from The Jetsons. And the kicker: “Sound too fantastic, these things that I say? Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler are doing them — it’s a new day.”

The problem is viewers never saw actual, existing Chrysler vehicles, only vague cartoons of some. Company executives last week acknowledged the need to quickly re-engage American consumers in consideration of their lineup and to pack their offerings with attractive features at value prices. But this ad didn’t tell us that is happening.

Ford: Basically, Ford seemed to take an attitudinal pass on the Super Bowl but still ponied up millions of dollars for a first-quarter spot for the F-150. It showed the truck being spun around by a huge centrifuge, attached only by its tow hooks. But so what? When is anybody going to yank around a centrifuge with their pickup truck?

Ford did get a bonus bump, however, from Microsoft’s decision to tout the Sync in-car electronics system with an in-game ad. “Exclusively on Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles,” Ford’s technology partner said, doing more for Ford on Super Bowl Sunday than Ford did itself.

Class No-Shows

Honda, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Saab, Volvo, Dodge, Buick, Pontiac, Hummer, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mitsubishi.

Photos by manufacturers
1 - New York Giants' Eli Manning with his new Cadillac Escalade Hybrid.
2 - Screen capture from Nissan Murano Super Bowl ad
3 - Screen capture from Toyota Sequoia Super Bowl ad
4 - GMC Yukon 2-Mode Hybrid

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:03 PM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine