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Social Media Success Video In these difficult times, it’s easy to understand why many car dealers are desperately trying to get the attention of the consumers. Between the economy, improved longevity of vehicles, and uncertainty within the industry, every potential sale must be made.
Still, there are times when car dealers take it a little too far with their advertising. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of going “over the top” with the advertising. Other times, they try to be slick and fail.
Then, of course, there are those that just simply fail. Enjoy.
Cute on a baby ad. Creepy on a car ad.
Subliminal Enticement
Free Gun with Car Purchase
Yes You Can… but you shouldn’t have
Scratching Head: Sending the Wrong Message
Even a Minor Slight Against Your Home Town is Wrong
It Just Seems a Little… Desperate
Disco is Dead. This Ad Didn’t Bring it Back.
Stereotypes are Bad. Promoting them is Worse.
No Explanation Necessary: This Video is Wrong
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Image Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by 0boy: 10 Car Ads Guaranteed to Keep Customers Away http://su.pr/2n9WNZ...
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by JD Rucker and Russ Palmer, Stefanie Wood. Stefanie Wood said: RT @russpalmer: RT @0boy: 10 Car Ads Guaranteed to Keep Customers Away http://su.pr/2n9WNZ [...]
I agree that most of these ads are awful and do little from a branding perspective…except the ads by Boch Automotive.
Ernie Boch Jr. is, in my opinion, the ultimate retail automotive marketer of our time. He’s in the same league as Cal Worthington and his ‘Go See Cal’ campaigns with his ‘dog’ Spot (that was a tiger, elephant, bear, pig, or any available animal at the time) This guy does it all whether playing for the Washington Generals vs the Harlem Globetrotters, performing with his band Ernie and the Automatics (their latest album debuted @ #7 on the Billboard Blues Chart), or playing ‘The Ghoul’ on a Boston area TV show the ‘Creature Double Feature’. If you’re looking to create BUZZ, Ernie Boch, Jr is an example how to do it successfully.
I believe that YTD Boch Honda is the #1 volume Honda Dealership and Boch Toyota is #2 in volume. He’s got his brand and market dialed in. We could all learn something from his seemingly insane, don’t-take-yourself-too seriously approach to marketing.
Killer post JD.
Boch is indeed nuts. lol.
I do not know what some of these companies were thinking in these ads! Thank you for sharing the ads, they were so bad they were funny!
Hey JD, I think your intention is good here, but we should be defining what makes an ad effective. Take Patrick’s point: Boch’s ads seem off the wall, but I’m here to tell you that not only do they drive traffic to his top-in-the-world stores, they have elevated him personally to movie-star status in New England. I believe he would tell you it all works for him because he IS the brand.
We should all remember that the ad we hate most, the most annoying jingle or image, may well be the most effective because those are the impressions that stick. The caveat would be that it is a fine line between making an impression, cerebral cookie if you will, in a potential customer’s mind and sending a message that ensures they will never transact with us.
Wow and I thought my bar-mitzvah videos and photos were bad…oy vey.
What a menagerie of moronic and idiotic ad wizards that thought up half of these promotions.
It’s like these dealers live in a time warp or parallel dimension where corny, insulting and/or desperate acts = more revenue to them.
People are not necessarily smarter today, but just about EVERYONE now has access to information. Like they say in the SEO/SEM realm…”CONTENT IS KING!”
If there is info out there to be read…it will be read.
Too bad many dealers do read enough.
Mr. Rucker as usual, I salute you and your articles. Always on point.