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One thing I've learned from writing this column is that if I criticize a commercial for not making sense, several of you will argue that I'm "overanalyzing" and that it "shouldn't be taken so seriously" because it's "just a commercial." Although I can guarantee you that the people who write commercials for a living (and the clients who pay millions of dollars to air them) take them very seriously indeed, that's not to say that you'd be wrong. Sometimes, advertisers count on viewers to suspend logic because they're using fantasy to make their point, as is the case with this commercial, wherein GMC uses a larger-than-life scenario to communicate that the Acadia is both rugged and stylish. The storyline is easy to follow because it feels familiar: A James Bond kind of guy arrives late to the opera and presents his annoyed woman with a laundry list of reasons for his tardiness. He got stuck in traffic, had to pick up his tux at the cleaners, and he couldn't find a parking spot, all of which she sarcastically dismisses as "excuses, excuses." What she doesn't know, despite his casual recounting of the day's events, is that he narrowly escaped with his life, thanks in part to his amazing GMC Acadia, which "handles whatever life demands." The commercial is well paced and the action scenes are fun to watch, although I found them a little confusing. The leading man certainly does his job well, and the Acadia looks great in every shot. So what's the problem? Well, there is no problem, because we agreed to view it as "just a commercial." And that's a good thing, because otherwise I would have overanalyzed it by asking questions like "What's the point?" GMC's overarching message it that the Acadia, like all GMC trucks, is "Professional Grade." But how does this commercial prove that promise? I think we can safely assume that the folks who make the Acadia are qualified GM professionals, so whose professional standards are they referring to, the guy in the commercial? What exactly does he do for a living anyway, other than get construction guys so pissed that they want to kill him? If the spot is meant to highlight the equipment available on the refreshed-for-'13 Acadia, I can sort of see why the head-up display and blind-spot monitoring might come in handy, because evasive driving is apparently part of his daily routine. But the best they could come up with to showcase the flexible seating is that it provides a place to lay his tux?
Award-winning ad man-cum-auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; the Ad Section is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad's rating is depicted via the shift pattern at the bottom, but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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Friday, April 5, 2013
2013 GMC Acadia “Symphony” Spot: It’s Just a Commercial [The Ad Section]
And who is this commercial aimed at? Men? Women? Opera aficionados? Spies? Sarcastic wives who mock their husbands? (Man, she's unpleasant!) It's clearly not meant for blue-collar, truck-buying "professionals." And of all the street names in the world, why do they say the assaults happened on Lincoln? Is that a subtle reference to how the Acadia competes with 
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