Honda has found itself in a bit of a kerfuffle in the Detroit area over an ad it ran for the Civic coupe. The commercial contrasted images of protesters outside of Detroit's Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse with happier themes—usually involving the new two-door Civic—later in the spot, with the implied message being that while life can seem bad sometimes, things are actually pretty great overall. Some in Detroit felt it was a slap in the face to the now-bankrupt city, and a subtle dig at the Detroit Three.
According to a report in The Detroit News, many in the region called for Honda to apologize for its 30-second spot entitled "Today is Pretty Great." The ad was created by Honda's ad firm, California-based Rubin Postaer and Associates, and the automaker was quick to release a new version of the commercial, sans the courthouse and protesters.
The original version of the ad used what Honda spokesman Steve Kinkade calls "stock footage," and was not meant to be a dig at the city of Detroit, or the American auto industry with which Detroit is symbolically associated.
"The slight change we made to the commercial simply reflects our desire to remove anything that would get in the way of our uplifting message. The original commercial obviously was not intended to represent Detroit or the challenges experienced by the city, its people, or our industry," said Kinkade, who himself is a "lifelong Detroiter."
"To the contrary, the entire spirit of the commercial is a positive expression for everyone," he said, and noted that the ad has gotten "incredibly positive response." Everywhere, it seems, except Detroit.
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For what it's worth, we've seen both versions of the ad, and the new one indeed does seem to make the point that today is pretty great, which makes us wonder why the Detroit footage was used in the first place. Check out the original, embedded above, and the revised version, embedded below, and decide for yourself whether Honda has it out for the Motor City.
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