has been targeted by Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy organization, over the automaker’s 40 mpg fuel efficiency claim on the Hyundai Elantra. The group says Elantra owners have seen fuel economy averages of 18 and 19 mpg instead of the the 29 mpg city and 40 mpg highway reported by Hyundai and the Environmental Protection Agency. As such, the group has sent letters to both Hyundai CEO John Krafcik and President Eok Jo Kim warning that if the automaker advertised the 40 mpg claim in the company’s Super Bowl spots, Consumer Watchdog would release a retaliatory video of its own. The group has since followed through with that threat.
Hyundai has since released a new, updated version of its Super Bowl ad, and Consumer Watchdog claims the Korean automaker has now promised not to include the 40 mpg figure in any of the spots. Hyundai, meanwhile, released a statement saying the company’s advertising was “in no way” influenced by the Consumer Watchdog claims, comments or statements. for a look at the Elantra Super Bowl spot, the Consumer Watchdog clip about the vehicle’s mileage claims and a press release from the non-profit.
Also worth a read is of two cars boasting 40 mpg EPA highway ratings: the SFE and the Hyundai Elantra. Ultimately, when you get past all the noise, it’s important to remember that “your mileage may vary” is a mantra for a reason.
If we had to pick a Super Bowl advertising shtick that we’re most susceptible to, it might just be . Especially if they are driving cars.
But this is one ad campaign you won’t actually see during the Super Bowl. Subaru will be holding its second annual Subaru Game Day Dog Walk instead, wherein owners pledge on Facebook to, well, walk their dogs. While we don’t really want to think about what would happen if they didn’t, Subaru sees value in appealing to animal lovers. Some 70 percent of Subaru drivers are pet owners, according to the company.
Subaru has also launched two social networking app as part of its marketing effort: Dogbook for Facebook and MapMyDOGWALK.
Do we even need mention that this is a brand that shares a nickname with a TV cartoon dog?
Last year, made a big splash in the advertising world with its “Imported From Detroit” campaign, a marketing blitz that kicked off with a Super Bowl spot featuring rapper Eminem behind the wheel of a . The campaign jumpstarted a national dialogue about Detroit, went on to win an Emmy, and the tagline has since become a cornerstone of Chrysler’s marketing efforts. But according to The Wall Street Journal, the Auburn Hills automaker isn’t looking to return to The Big Game with Marshall Mathers – it’s going with veteran actor Clint Eastwood.
According to the WSJ, Eastwood will feature in an expansive two-minute long ad and the action will likely center on the actor “giving the country a pep talk.” While seemingly every other automaker has already spilled the beans on their Super Bowl marketing efforts, the Pentastar is playing its hand close to the vest, with the WSJ unable to get Chrysler to comment on the story.
has been spending big on Super Bowl advertising for a few years now, but its commercials have been hit or miss. Its ad for the big game in 2010 entitled “” was a hit for bringing toys from our childhood to life behind the wheel of a , but last year’s “” was a definite miss. Kia’s ad for this year’s Super Bowl, called “A Dream Car. For Real Life,” will likely be a hit.
The premise is simple: A fairy who visits bedsides with magic dust that guarantees good dreams accidentally trips over a slipper and spills his whole bucket of sprinkles on an unsuspecting, demographically targeted and non-threateningly handsome 30-something man. The resulting indulgent dream stars Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima, 80’s hair band Mötley Crüe (looking a little worse for wear, we might add) and UFC fighter Chuck Liddell. There’s also a school bus-sized sub sandwich being cut in half by lumberjacks and a roaring crowd of thousands of bikini-wearing beauties.
In the midst of all this REM-induced revelry is the , because what other car would your subconscious pick to impress Ms. Lima?
Kia has also published a five-hour-longvideo of Adriana Lima waving a checkered flag in slow motion on YouTube, because hey, if you’ve got her on set for the day, why not? to watch them both.
It shouldn’t be surprising that, during the Super Bowl, the biggest single U.S. sporting event, automotive and beer companies spend the most on advertising. What might surprise you – before you give a thought to your Super Bowl diet – is the fifth biggest advertiser: tortilla chips. Ratings agency Nielsen broke down the advertising numbers over the past five Super Bowls and found that automakers cumulatively spent $172.2 million, versus beer companies investment of $126.9 million over the same period.
The increased cost of Big Game ads, even against a backdrop of decreasing first-quarter primetime advertising, hasn’t slowed anything down. The cost of Super Bowl ads rose nearly 40 percent from 2007 to 20011 (to $3,100,000 on average) while primetime television advertising in the first three months of the year dropped nearly 10 percent to $96,807.
But as will tell you, you just can’t beat a huge global audience: it’s ad last year had 119,628,000 viewers, making it the most watched ad of all time, according to Nielsen. for more details on Nielsen’s breakdown.
Heather Peters in Torrance, California over the gas mileage she was getting in her Honda Civic Hybrid, which was around 20 miles per gallon less than had advertised. After two days of testimony, Commissioner Doug Carnahan sent his 26-page decision to both Peters and , with a ruling in favor of Peters and $9,687 awarded in damages. That’s just short of the $10,000 maximum that can be won in small-claims court.
In the decision, Carnahan wrote “At a bare minimum Honda was aware … that by the time Peters bought her car there were problems with its living up to its advertised mileage.” He went further, indicating that he found Honda to have committed fraud, but not intentional fraud.
According to a report in the Associated Press, Honda’s EPA certification engineer said Honda “was required to post a sticker with the Environmental Protection Agency’s estimate of the highest mileage the car could get.” (In a previous report from Automotive.com he was characterized as saying that “automakers had no option but to adhere to the federal testing procedures.”) While that claim was shot down by earlier precedent where it was shown that automakers had cited lower fuel economy numbers than the EPA in their advertising and marketing, it will be interesting to see whether this line in Carnahan’s decision comes up again: “Honda’s own testing should be the guideline for how it advertises its vehicles’ mileages, not the generalized work … done by the EPA.”
And we can be certain it will since Honda has already stated its intention to appeal. And because the appeal will be held in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the way has been cleared for Honda to get its lawyers in the courtroom.
This gives other plaintiffs in the class action suit over Civic Hybrid mileage an option as to how to proceed. The last day to sign onto the settlement of that earlier suit is February 11, however, even if that case remains unfinished; a judge in San Diego won’t rule until March on whether that settlement, which would see plaintiffs get a $100 to $200 and $1,000 discount on a new Honda and trial attorneys get $8.5 million, is fair.
We’ll be the first to admit we weren’t overly taken with the Super Bowl commercial worked up featuring . The company has a long history of genuinely great advertising, and while the countless Ferris Bueller’s Day Off references were clever, the ad didn’t really come close to the cleverness found in the movie that inspired it. Fortunately, the company has just released a new spot chock full of… that certain something. The clip follows a spark of innovation from inception to realization as the new European hatchback. As usual, the commercial is well shot and narrated by none other than , a staple of Honda’s British ads.
Look closely and you’ll even see a shout-out to Honda’s famous “” Rube Goldberg spot of a few years ago, as well. You can follow the trials and tribulations of Honda’s little spark in the commercial .
Super Bowl Sunday is a scant six days away, which means you’ve got less than a week left to prepare yourself for the onslaught of advertising that will commence well before kick off. We’re doing our part by showing you the car commercials ahead of time so you can use those commercial breaks for more important things like evacuating your bladder or refilling the salsa, not necessarily in that order.
Cadillac has developed an ad for the Super Bowl that will be 30 seconds in length and highlight its new , which at the . Unlike every other Super Bowl commercial you’re probably going to see, Cadillac’s playing it straight with this one. There will be no humor, no overpaid celebrity endorsement and no sweepstakes on Facebook involved.
Instead, you’ll just see real footage of the ATS being tested during its development in an inhospitable environment. No, it isn’t footage of the ATS playing Peek-a-boo among the snow drifts of Scandinavia or arid dunes of Death Valley. Where this footage was shot was truly hell. Descend to the first circle .
isn’t typically one to dive into the Super Bowl advertising fracus with splashy spots, so when the company anonymously teased us with a quick clip of Matthew Broderick reprising his role from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, our eyebrows did a little dance. Now the company has dropped a full-length ad on the web, and it features Broderick skipping his acting duties for a little frolicking about in the city. The spot features more than a few classic Ferris Bueller lines (though nitpickers will note that some of them are a little off), and while it’s well put-together, seeing the star take to the wheel of a instead of a is a crushing reminder of our own mortality.
Still, we like Honda’s crack at half-time advertising a good bit more than the previously released (though not more than the clever spot that’s presently circulating televisions nationwide). to take in Honda’s spot before the big game, and be sure to keep a steady out for the various ‘easter eggs.’
Heather Peters is in Torrance, California over the lackluster fuel economy she’s gotten out of her Hybrid. It isn’t really a new lawsuit, it’s one that sprung from Peters not signing onto the settlement of an earlier class-action lawsuit brought by one John True, who sued over the same issue. The meat of the claim is that Honda’s window sticker attested to an EPA combined 42 miles per gallon figure, but unhappy drivers are getting closer to 32 mpg.
True’s suit was settled out of court in 2009 and plaintiffs have until February 11, 2012 to partake of redress that the Attorneys General of 26 states declared unfair. Peters didn’t sign on, taking her own case to small-claims court where cases aren’t tried by lawyers. According to Automotive.com, Honda’s point man Neil Schmidt didn’t appear at the previous hearing, but this time he showed up and provided several dossiers to Commissioner Carnahan. Most of the paperwork submitted into evidence was reportedly “testimony from happy Civic Hybrid owners,” which the judge dismissed.
Schmidt first suggested that Peters did not adhere to the right service procedures with her car, then Honda’s EPA certification engineer said that Honda had no option but to follow the EPA’s testing procedures. While that is correct regarding following testing protocol, Peters argued that automakers have the discretion to use lower fuel economy numbers in their advertising and on Monroneys if they see the need. Peters claims Honda didn’t lower the number because it was trying to take advantage of “the green revolution.”
Some observers believe the reduced mileage is an effect of a mandatory software upgrade applied to 2006-2008 Honda Civic Hybrids. The upgrade was meant “not just to prolong the life of the battery, [but] .” While there were complaints about the mileage before (as there are of a great many cars), it was after the upgrade that forums began to light up with tales of poorer mileage. That could have been because , a fix to allegedly offset the battery deteriorating more quickly than Honda anticipated.
Commissioner Carnahan is expected to rule on the case as soon as next week. Peters hopes it’s before the February 11 deadline to participate in True’s lawsuit settlement. At stake is not just the $10,000 Peters is seeking, but a figure potentially in the billions as other unhappy owners could flock to lawyer-free small-claims court to fight their cases. In the event of a loss, Honda is expected to appeal, to which Peters says, “I’m ready!”
You know those commercials that we never get, the ones aired in distant lands like Australia and Brazil and that are, oh, interesting? We’re finally getting one. Toyota is returning to Super Bowl advertising after a three-year hiatus with a 30-second version of this longer-form 60-second spot for the , and we think it’s amusing enough to be worthy of The Big Game.
This is a continuation of introduced in the first 2012 ad last year, and this commercial adds some comedy, a welcome change from Toyota’s typically sober marketing campaigns. Toyota will also air a second 30-second spot during the NFL’s championship game. Check it out in long form (along with the official press release) .
It’s the two-minute warning in terms of Super Bowl advertising and still has some ground to cover. General Motors’ largest brand is still mulling its advertising lineup with less than two weeks remaining until the New York Giants and New England Patriots meet in the big game.
Chevrolet has purchased seven spots. Exactly which vehicles will be featured and at what times is still stirring healthy debate at GM headquarters.
“Every day, we’re changing the spots of what’s running where,” said Chris Perry, Chevrolet’s vice president of global marketing and strategy. “We’re probably going to push it to the end.”
That comes Tuesday, Jan. 31 when NBC wants final decisions. Click to continue reading.
General Motors has launched an advertising campaign touting the safety of the extended-range plug-in electric vehicle, just as its that a recent Volt fire that took place after a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash test would never occur under real-world circumstances, Bloomberg has reported.
GM CEO Dan Akerson (pictured) said in the campaign that he “couldn’t be prouder” of the technology the company uses to produce the Volt, the wire service noted. The campaign includes full-page ads in 19 U.S. daily newspapers, including the The New York Times, as well as a television ad that will debut on News Corp’s Fox News channel. GM has also released a new “normal” ad that calls the Volt “the car America had to build.” You can watch the 30-second clip, which may appear in or around the Super Bowl, .
Akerson spoke Wednesday with the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending. Both he and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said the car was safe and defended NHTSA’s handling of the situation against accusations from some Republican members of Congress who’ve been critical of the Obama Administration and its relationship with GM.
NHTSA said late last week that it finished its into the crash test that resulted in a fire three weeks after the fact last summer, and concluded that neither the Volt nor other electric vehicles pose more of a fire risk than conventional vehicles.
We’ve entered a new age of advertising, friends. One where manufacturers gleefully shill for their own ads instead of actual products. We’ve seen it with the teaser as for the Super Bowl spot, and now has jumped into the game. It’s Inception gone marketing – an ad within an ad. In order to get us all fired up for the commercial to come, Audi has unveiled a teaser that features some of the best moments from the company’s Super Bowl marketing past as well as a quick glimpse of what we can expect from this year’s high-budget number.
From the looks of things, the commercial will feature everyone’s favorite creature of the night: vampires. We’re not sure how we can possibly contain our anticipation. Or something. to check out the commercial for a commercial for yourself.
has once again proven itself capable of crafting some seriously clever advertising, and with the Super Bowl quickly approaching, all eyes have turned to the automaker to see what the company has in store this year. In order to stoke even more interest, Volkswagen has released what it calls an ad for an ad in its “” spot. According to Automotive News, Volkswagen wanted to get fans excited about its spot for the Super Bowl and set about casting 12 dogs. The production team specifically chose the pups based on their resemblance to certain Star Wars characters instead of their vocal ability.
The clip was then shot just like a music video, both with all the dogs together and with each of them individually. The final track was crafted using a mix of archived dog barks which were then layered with new sounds from the dogs on stage. Certain barks were then pitched to catch the tune required. to check out the video once again, and then click on the Automotive News link to learn more about how VW’s ad came to be.
put a on the Internet last November that tested the bounds of what is doable on network TV. That’s one of the big reasons it hasn’t been put on TV yet.
You’ll see what we mean when you view the ad, titled “Seduction,” . It was the foam that made it iffy for the networks.
But we chatted with marketing chief Olivier Francois at the about Super Bowl commercials where advertisers are known to push the envelope. In the Chrysler-Fiat world of double titles, Francois is also CEO of Fiat.
Francois, who is considering a few options for the big game, is wondering if the Abarth video is Super Bowl worthy, and wants to know what Autoblog readers think about the spot. Good enough for the big game, also known as the Super Bowl of advertising?
Chrysler, of course, was the toast of the Super Bowl in 2011, showing an featuring Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” an appearance by Eminem himself and the new ad theme, “Imported From Detroit.”
It’s a high bar to reach again.
What do you think? Does this Abarth ad have the right stuff?
knows how to get attention through advertising, as its latest teaser spot shows. Start with the Star Wars Imperial March to make the tighty-whities of every 40-year-old geek just a little bit tighter, and add dogs for the rest of the nation. That’s how you get the undivided attention of the United States of America.
Building on the success of , Volkswagen has begun the buildup to a that will debut during next month’s Super Bowl. Which Beetle is the question, and Volkswagen says that on February 5th, 2012, something will be “back and better than ever.”
The car that’s coming back is likely to be the diesel-powered Beetle TDI, especially since the timing lines up with the that runs from February 8th. What, you’re still here? Who cares about conjecture, . There are dogs dressed up like Ewoks, and there’s even a little Wookie singing in there. See it .
The Detroit Free Press reports General Motors may be out to reorganize its marketing effort once again. According to the report, Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick noted at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show that the company is currently in the process of reviewing the agencies that handle media buying and advertising for the automaker around the world. Ewanick’s team is expected to make decisions about how to more effectively and efficiently use its marketing dollars in the next few weeks. That may translate into substantial reductions or changes. Right now, General Motors relies on around 100 advertising agencies worldwide.
The news comes in the wake of tepid response to the automaker’s “Chevy Runs Deep” campaign, which has been live since the fall of 2010. The review has already seen one agency, Big Fuel, escorted out the door. The New York agency was tasked with handling social media for all four GM U.S. brands, and Ewanick said coordinating the agency’s campaigns simply took too much time and effort.
The automaker’s marketing effort has been anything but stable in recent months. Chevrolet has had six marketing leaders since GM underwent restructuring, while GM as a whole has had five different leaders in the same period of time.
can thank Wal-Mart for the automaker’s recent victory in a class-action lawsuit over models equipped with the company’s Collision Mitigation Braking System. The system was designed to warn drivers of a potential crash, tighten the vehicle’s seat belts and automatically apply the brakes. However, lawyers for approximately 2,000 plaintiffs sued the Japanese automaker, arguing that the system may warn the driver too slowly, and it may not work at all – the lawsuit also complained the system may shut off altogether in foul weather. Reuters says the suit involves RL models equipped with the optional CMBS system purchased or leased between August 17, 2005 and December 16, 2008.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California found that a court ruling in a Wal-Mart case last June effectively narrowed the scope of class-action lawsuits. The same ruling was found to apply to the suit against as well. Previously, a district judge in Los Angeles had ordered that California’s consumer protection laws could be applied to RL owners nationwide, but the new ruling repeals that judgment. The circuit court also reversed the district court’s finding that car buyers could have relied on advertising by Honda about the collision system. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found there weren’t enough common facts among the plaintiffs’ claims to apply the California laws across the board.
At this point, it’s unclear how the plaintiffs in the case will respond to the decision.
Want to advertise a new plaything for the wealthy? The front windows at Harrods are the place to be. That’s where city car, and where a short while after. Little wonder, then, that has opted to park the at the swanky London department store.
The Karma display gives prospective British buyers the chance to see the car and register their interest with a local dealership. It’s the first time the Karma is being displayed in a retail location in the UK, but something tells us the purveyor of luxury hybrids may have gotten a break on the price for this prime advertising space: Qatar Holding, which owns Harrods, also happens to own part of Fisker. Follow the jump for the full press release.
