= Martha and Doon in MY idea of a sports utility vehicleWoo hoo… the Chevy Apprentice anti-ad campaign crosses over into “the news.” Here’s an article from CNET. Calls to Chevy for comment were not returned. I bet.
At the moment there’s probably a real conflict going on over there of the “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” kind — do you keep running this competition when it’s getting used to tarnish your well-funded brand, or do you figure the more the merrier and all that “Tahoe Tahoe Tahoe” mantra going out on the ether will make consumers forget they have any environmental ethics when it comes time to plunk down the ready for the ride?
The Detroit Free Press, in a piece about the ad campaign before it was launched:
“Because the aversion to advertising seems to be growing, consumer engagement is a key way advertisers are trying to get people to interact with their brands. From sponsoring major sporting events to airing ads ordinary people create, companies are finding ways to make the their pitches less like ads and more entertaining.”
But seriously, is letting even a hard-core Tahoe fan stitch together an ad from a pre-assembled set of puff pieces going to be any fun unless you’re spoofing it? I am *definitiely* not the target audience here given my primary means of transportation is my bike and my bad-ass, two-kids and groceries truckin’ “bak fiets,” but I just can’t imagine anyone of sound mind getting a kick out of considering with a straight face where to stick the promo about how the seats fold back.
Then again, I haven’t lived in the United States for a long, long time. And you know how these things are, you miss out on a few brainwash sessions, you cut a couple imagination labotomies, and before you know it, you just can’t keep up.
(By the way, the sample ad they post at CNET is pretty good, but I see better below!)
In other SUV news — who says slapping a sticker on an SUV isn’t an effective form of action????
“THANDIE Newton, the British star of the Hollywood hit film Crash, has become a crusader against gas-guzzling cars after a Greenpeace activist slapped stickers on her vehicle accusing her of adding to global warming.”
–b
Brian, I don’t claim credit for Bitches & Tahoes but I did create Dance with the Devil. Another one with a good punch line (that I didn’t make) is The New Terrorists. 🙂
LOL Mark, I’d rank that as one of your best!
–b
We’re going to see millions of Westerners making the conversion to bicycling in the next 10–20 years. But it may be too late.
Here’s my latest Tahoe spoof for your enjoyment: Overdraft
There’s a humorous one circulating whose premise is that the SUV is a great pimp-mobile. The punch line: “There’s no hoe like a Tahoe!”
Hi Brian, what a nice suprise to find your blog. Great pic…brings back loads of memories. Wish we could drop our son off at chidcare like that. Unfortunately too many hills in Sydney (mtns compared with those in the Netherlands;), pockets of bushland and bloody agro drivers on the road — particularly since every third car is an SUV. Wish GPAP wld run an anti SUV campaign downunder 😉
Like your blog, keep posting
Damn Lisa, you are a one-woman Greenpeace juggernaut!
But the great thing about the sticker story is that there are HUNDREDS, maybe THOUSANDS of people in London telling people in pubs that “it might have been me” as well it might, and reinforcing the power of such tiny acts.
Tiny acts of resistance that do the butterfly-beats-its-wings-in-china thing.
Way cool. And Page, maybe we ought to get some stickers made up for the Bak Fietsen of Amsterdam: “This is my SUV. It runs on food.” Of course, it does produce carbon dioxide… 😉
–b
If she had a Range Rover parked in Islington last summer — could have been me who put the flyer on her SUV. :-))
CUTE photo!!! I love that!
I call those “Dutch SUVs”.
Have you noticed that there are more and more SUVs in Amsterdam? Maybe it’s just in the center (where I live).
Anyway, it’s really irritating; my husband and I routinely shout “YOU MUST LOVE EXXON!” at the drivers, both in Dutch and in English.
Think I’ll write a letter to the editor of de Volkskrant about the SUV invasion.
It isn’t good.