Chevy "This is our country" commercial

[EMoMoney]

Is anybody else just completely sick of this commercial? Every sporting event every commercial break. Please stop!

[Wheens]

I think that including negative images intermingled with positve ones is a bad marketing move. I think most potential chevy truck owners will be turned off by this. Volvo or BMW types, maybe, but I think most truck buyers are probably working class, love the USA types and are tired of all the negativity about America.

Just a thought.

[ufo4sale]

I HATE this commercial with a passion. I can't see anyone buying a car based on that commercial.

[MassD]

I am still trying hard to find the connection between Rosa Parks, MLK, 9/11 and Katrina with buying a pickup truck.

Sure.. they all happened here...

I would have liked to be a hole in the wall during the meeting where GM approved this mess of a commercial. It's an embarrassment.

[jschuur]

There was a write-up on Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2151143/) about this commercial the other day that I caught on their podcast (http://www.slate.com/id/2119317/). The author didn't seem to think it worked either.

[rawbi01]

The commercial is a turn off not to mention john couger's last few songs have all sounded the same. :down:

[Delta13]

The best part was during Game 2 of the World Series when he sang it before the game. It was introduced as "the latest single off of his new album." First time I've ever been sick and tired of a song BEFORE it was released as a single! :)

[MickeS]

And coupled with the Sean Hannity-fronted "You're a great American" Chevy giveaway contest, it doesn't seem to be the smartest advertising campaign...

[Todd]

I just FF past it. I have yet to see the whole ad...

[cheesesteak]

I don't know what it has to do with selling cars but I think it's a pretty compelling video montage.

[EMoMoney]

I just FF past it. I have yet to see the whole ad...
That's difficult when you're watching a live sporting event. Last night on Sunday Night Football, it was the first commercial during the first 6 or 7 commercial breaks in a row.

[DevdogAZ]

That's difficult when you're watching a live sporting event. Last night on Sunday Night Football, it was the first commercial during the first 6 or 7 commercial breaks in a row.
And GM wonders why it's hemmorhaging money.

[Philly Bill]

I can't remember the last time I watched a sporting event 'live'.

Usually its about 15-30 minutes behind.

[Zevida]

I'm weird about sporting events, I have to watch them live if I'm going to watch, but I'm pretty good about tuning out mentally when the commericals come on.

I saw this commerical for the first time yesterday and I was pretty surprised to see all the negative images, such as showing a raging forest fire when they sang "west coast" - talk about bad taste. While I can see showing negative images followed by postive images to demonstrate the human spirit, it didn't seem like there were many positive images to add balance. Just a weird montage of negative events to define ourselves as American? I wasn't buying it, that's for sure.

(Though I do like Chevy trucks.)

[Jesda]

Its an example of ad-wankers trying to be artsy fartsy.

Otherwise, good trucks.

[Ghost_Dog1]

Of course its Hypocritical on GM's part. The Chevy nameplate is put on outsourced Daewoos. They can't have it both ways.

They plan to use The Saturn name for outsourced vehicles as well.

[footballdude]

If I had a Chevy I'd sell it after being forced to sit through this crap so many times.

[mportuesi]

I saw this ad during Game 2 of the World Series.

"Insipid" comes to mind.

Secondly, I find it revolting and offensive to watch natural disasters and terrorist acts used to sell trucks.

[jsmeeker]

Of course its Hypocritical on GM's part. The Chevy nameplate is put on outsourced Daewoos. They can't have it both ways.

They plan to use The Saturn name for outsourced vehicles as well.


Don't forget all the GM cars made in Canada.

:)

[FourFourSeven]

Secondly, I find it revolting and offensive to watch natural disasters and terrorist acts used to sell trucks.
I share your sentiments exactly. I had heard about this ad (from the Slate article mentioned above), but hadn't seen it until this weekend, and was also revolted when I saw the 9/11 and Katrina imagery in a truck ad.

I'm not in the market for a GM vehicle, and don't think I ever will be, but this is the rare ad that makes me want to go out of my way to NOT buy a company's products.

[MickeS]

Of course its Hypocritical on GM's part. The Chevy nameplate is put on outsourced Daewoos. They can't have it both ways.

They plan to use The Saturn name for outsourced vehicles as well.

Not to mention that if you want to buy American made cars or trucks, you could buy for example a Toyota, Nissan or Hyundai too.

I guess the point of this ad is to try and sell cars to those who long for "the good old days".

[DeDondeEs]

I don't know which are more annoying, the Toby Keith Ford ads or the Melloncamp Chevy ads. They lead you to believe that a bunch of slack jawed yokels drive 1/2 ton pickups, when really it is a bunch of middle aged cubicle dwellers who wish they had a tool belt to throw in the back or a big load of rock they can go get at the gravel yard and the loader can drop it in from 20 ft above, or they can go take a nap on a pile of logs.

I like that new Toby Keith ad "Gotta git up early! Gotta be on time!"

Or how about the Nissan ads where they ask what truck owners want in a full size truck "More pawwerr"

[bobsbizzy]

I saw this ad during Game 2 of the World Series.

"Insipid" comes to mind.

Secondly, I find it revolting and offensive to watch natural disasters and terrorist acts used to sell trucks.

Thirdly, I find it revolting and offensive to watch images of Rosa Parks and MLK used to sell trucks when the guys who built these trucks, and the guys who bought them, weren't exactly at the forefront of the civil rights movement, quite the contrary. So don't try to bask in the glory or take credit now - hyppocrites.

[MikeMar]

From Sports Guy article

(On an unrelated note, I thoroughly enjoyed this e-mail from George in Chicago: "What is your problem with the 'This is Our Country' Chevy truck ads? Whoever thought that Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War, Watergate, western wildfires, Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11 should be bunched together to sell a truck is a genius! When Chevy opens a new ad campaign for the Malibu, they should use the same song with a montage of the AIDS crisis, the Rodney King beating, Kurt Cobain's suicide, the O.J. trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine massacre, and the Abu Ghraib prison photos. You're telling me you wouldn't want to buy a Malibu after seeing that?")

[CTLesq]

I share your sentiments exactly. I had heard about this ad (from the Slate article mentioned above), but hadn't seen it until this weekend, and was also revolted when I saw the 9/11 and Katrina imagery in a truck ad.


Agreed. But the reality is we have become a culture which celebrates loss. Point in fact consider you are familar with the name Jessica Lynch but you don't know who Paul Smith is. Why because one is viewed as a victim (Lynch) and the other a hero (Smith).

So it doesn't suprise me that Chevy wants to sell loss and victimization.

***

Note Paul Smith won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in Iraq.

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohiraq.htm

[MickeS]

From Sports Guy article


(On an unrelated note, I thoroughly enjoyed this e-mail from George in Chicago: "What is your problem with the 'This is Our Country' Chevy truck ads? Whoever thought that Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War, Watergate, western wildfires, Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11 should be bunched together to sell a truck is a genius! When Chevy opens a new ad campaign for the Malibu, they should use the same song with a montage of the AIDS crisis, the Rodney King beating, Kurt Cobain's suicide, the O.J. trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine massacre, and the Abu Ghraib prison photos. You're telling me you wouldn't want to buy a Malibu after seeing that?")


In other words, kinda like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPNMERRPuHw

:)

[MickeS]

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54877

"Impressive New Honda Inspires John Mellencamp To Write Song About Japan"

:D

[Magnolia88]

Has Chevy changed this ad in response to all the complaints?

I normally don't watch commercials (I have TiVo!), but after all the hubbub, I finally caught this commercial this weekend. But I saw nothing about Rosa Parks, 9/11 or Katrina. Just positive images, including -- I think -- the Boy Scouts (?). It was all very Norman Rockwellish.

So did I see a sanitized version of the ad? Dale Earnhardt was still there, with a line about "our attitude" or something like that.

[MickeS]

Has Chevy changed this ad in response to all the complaints?

I normally don't watch commercials (I have TiVo!), but after all the hubbub, I finally caught this commercial this weekend. But I saw nothing about Rosa Parks, 9/11 or Katrina. Just positive images, including -- I think -- the Boy Scouts (?). It was all very Norman Rockwellish.

So did I see a sanitized version of the ad? Dale Earnhardt was still there, with a line about "our attitude" or something like that.

They must have changed it then.

[MassD]

Nah... they are still running it. I saw the original ad this Sunday... don't remember what network, but it was during the football games.

[DevdogAZ]

Has Chevy changed this ad in response to all the complaints?

I normally don't watch commercials (I have TiVo!), but after all the hubbub, I finally caught this commercial this weekend. But I saw nothing about Rosa Parks, 9/11 or Katrina. Just positive images, including -- I think -- the Boy Scouts (?). It was all very Norman Rockwellish.

So did I see a sanitized version of the ad? Dale Earnhardt was still there, with a line about "our attitude" or something like that.
I also made a point to watch the commercial when I saw it come on during a college football game on Saturday, and it was all positive. It was the one that said something like "This is our Focus Group" and "This is our Research Lab" etc. None of the negative images.

There must be more than one version of the commercial.

[MacThor]

Didn't JCM slam Bob Seger years ago for selling out "Like a Rock" to Chevy? IIRC he even said he'd never license "Small Town" or "Pink Houses" for an ad, even though he'd make a killing.

I guess his indignation doesn't apply to new crappy songs.......

[martinp13]

I saw a version the other night where a camera followed a fence line over time. Images/people in the background seemed all positive, and the "journey" ended with the new Silverado.

Don't know if it's a revamped commercial or just a different one selling a specific product.

I really didn't have a problem with the original commercial. Is this country all buttercups and doggies and cute kids? Uh, not last time I looked. We've been through a lot, had lots of problems, solved a lot of them, and found/created more problems. :) But that's the USA. And I felt that's what the song and images were trying to get across.

Ok, now the dirty laundry: I love singing along with this commercial, it's got a catchy hook. But then I also sing along with the current "This is Buuuuuuuudweiser" commercial. :)

[heySkippy]

I saw two different 'happy' versions of this ad during the first half of the Patriots game Sunday night. They still suck.

Over and over and over and over and over and ...

[martinp13]

I saw two different 'happy' versions of this ad during the first half of the Patriots game Sunday night. They still suck.

Over and over and over and over and over and ...And how's that different than any other commercial? :)

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