The Purpose of Car Ads?

Really, purchasing a car is such a big investment that no consumer is going to buy a car just because of a single advertisement. I feel that car ads are there just to futher entrench a company’s brand and image into a consumer’s mind, and make sure that their name appears in their retrieval set.

And for this year’s Superbowl, it seemed like the best commercials came from auto companies, what with Volkswagen going all out and gaining a viral video with their Star Wars ad, The Force.

http://www.whitezine.com

This ad was mostly there for entertainment, and perhaps to appeal to young families. However, what that ad really seemed to show is that Volkswagen is a company that is fresh, clever and innovative. If you were to look back at all their past commercials and initiatives (see Volkswagen Fun Theory), it is easy to tell that they have kept up a consistent image. This image is what consumers remember and makes them fall in love with a company. And it works! Volkswagen is one of my favourite car companies because of their humour, image, and integrity and I’m most likely going to purchase a car from them in the future because of that.
On a side note, I would also like to draw some attention towards another car advertisement that caught my attention:
The Chrysler Eminem Ad – Imported from Detroit

It did not gain as much attention as the Volkswagen ones, however this really stood out in my opinion among countless other commercials that tried to appeal to the mass with humor and entertainment. It was one of the few ads that went the emotional route, though I felt the addition of the gospel choir at the end was a tad overboard.

It was an ad that was targeted towards Americans, and specifically citizens from Detroit. The portrayal of Detroit appealed to their pride and nationalism, yet the imagery, copy (script) and sense of history made it powerful enough to affect those outside of the United States. I especially liked how the celebrity appearance (Eminem) was done in a tasteful manner, he only showed up briefly and was not used solely to gain celebrity endorsement.

All those elements make me want to watch the commercial for the 6th time this week.