This is the Chevy Sonic spot from the Super Bowl where they kickflip the car, drop the car out of an airplane with a parachute, bungee jump the car, etc. This is a fun spot, but the odd thing is, it didn’t make me think much about the kind of car it was, and even if it did, it’s not like you could do this in it if you bought one: they even beg you not to do these stunts, so why do them in the ad? This spot is more entertainment than anything else, and it doesn’t really work very well as an ad for the car, in my opinion (although I guess it doesn’t hurt). The thing is, it doesn’t really do anything to sell me on this car. I’m not busting on the ad: maybe I’m wrong about this, and it will get people to remember the car, and to go check it out if they’re in the market to buy one. But it seems to me that by showing the car doing things we can’t do in it, and that it’s not designed to do, it’s really just a spectacular example of false advertising. (It is fun and super slick, though, and I like it a lot: I just don’t think it sells the car, so much as it entertains us.)
But this ad could work really well as a commercial for two things: car insurance, and some gasoline additive like STP Gas Treatment (or maybe some high-octane brand of gas). The insurance angle would be for obvious reasons: these stunts could be disastrous. Then they could say: “We hope you wouldn’t drive like this, but you still might have an accident anyway. And if you do, with us, you’ve got no worries. So get the enjoyment and thrill out of driving you deserve. And even if you do these stunts, we can cover you for that, too. (Just please tell us first so we can write a new policy.)”
Then, there is the gas treatment angle. (I like this one better.) The reason I think this would be a great ad for either a gas additive or a high-octane brand of gasoline is this: This ad reminds me of the Mountain Dew ads where they show people doing extreme sports activities, like snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, etc., and it strikes me that this car is doing the automotive version of those very same activities. So just like showing people doing this stuff makes for a great commercial for Mountain Dew or Red Bull, showing a car doing this stuff makes for a great ad for whatever a car drinks to fuel up for these types of activities: Get it? So it’s basically a take off on the Mountain Dew ad campaign concept, but for cars. And I’ll bet it would work really well to entertain people as well as build brand identity, basically on the back of another great ad campaign, and in so doing, it would probably work to sell more Mountain Dew (or Red Bull) as well (because it would remind people of that campaign).
Here’s the daredevil stunt driving spot (There’s a little intro at the beginning of the ad for some local dealership; sorry, I couldn’t find a cleaner one.):
