So, I think that it's safe to say that there are a handful of people whom we're all eager to punch in the face when we all meet up in the hereafter. High on my list is whoever the guy is who first decided that all used car ads have to be obnoxious, belie all intelligence, and slightly resemble South American TV all around. This is the guy who decided that balloons, cameras with no filters, random farm animals, cowboy hats, cheesy graphics, clowns, and the sacrilegious butchering/parodying of beloved oldies and classic rock was the appropriate way to generate interest in checking out a used car lot this weekend? It genuinely raises my blood pressure.
I give you a man who made such ads great, Southern California's Cal Worthington:
What blows my mind is the stark contrast between used car advertising and new car advertising. As an example...
New car ads are, with few exceptions, clever, well-produced, often exciting, and at worst just not any more annoying than any other commercial. Smart dealerships just buy the rights to tack their dealer's name and location on a screen at the end of the manufacturer's commercial.
TV watchers of the world, unite! Change the channel and let's hope that the collective antipathy will change this horrific trend for future generations. But who am I kidding? As long as there are morons in the world, there will be plenty of marketing folk to pander to them and sell them stuff.
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3 comments:
what? you don't like Cal Worthington? he he. I drove past his dealership this summer and felt like it was some great California landmark because of all the minutes/hours of my life that was wasted seeing his ads on TV. He's made a name for himself that's for sure.
Don't like Cal huh? Guess you don't like Apple Pie or In and Out either? I think I, like most people, appreciate the down home entertainment value of his ads, but I guess they don't fit in at a Starbucks in San Francisco. But I'll keep singing, Go See Cal, Go See Cal, Go See Cal!
I guess it's not so much that I'm hating on Cal as on all the imitators. Cal is Cal and certainly transcends this blog. It's the guys who do parodies to Beach Boys tunes or other oldies that most drive me nuts. ("Keys, Keys, Keys! Keys on Van Nuys!")
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