Here’s another Subaru commercial. I wrote a rather long post a couple of months back where I analyzed a Subaru spot I thought worked particularly well. Such is not the case here. This ad doesn’t work very well for me, and I’ll tell you why.
So this commercial shows a couple driving around to a bunch of different boondocks touristy places, and the guy loses his sunglasses. So then they have to drive all over the place, retracing their steps, to try to find the sunglasses. Well, from the lighting, this takes hours and hours. Oh, and they look annoyed too. So this is not a fun trip, and this ad does nothing to make us think having a Subaru does anything to help matters.
So this spot just makes me think of lots of times I’ve had to drive long ways for nothing, and it makes me want to avoid cars entirely. But they could have saved this spot, had they done it right. They could have shown the couple having a fun, silly time despite having to drive all over the place (for nothing, as it turns out: his sunglasses were in his hood all along). And best yet, they could have had a voice-over with the couple saying that this was a wild goose chase, but at least having a Subaru made it all enjoyable, because it’s such a joy to drive.
Had they done that, at least it would have sent a positive message; as it is, it just makes it look like an exercise in futility that leaves everyone frustrated. And that’s no way to try to sell a car. (Maybe next time they could show them getting and fixing a flat tire: awesome!)
Here’s the wild goose chase:
