13852: Cadillac Lacks Integrity.

Adweek reported on the patronizing call for unity from Cadillac: “While we’re not the same, we can be one.” Okay, but the automaker has consistently settled for sameness when selecting White advertising agency partners—and Neo-Nazis.

How Cadillac, Loved by Donald Trump and Muhammad Ali Alike, Became a Voice for Unity

A political risk that paid off

By Stephanie Paterik

The most controversial president in the history of the United States rides in a Cadillac. If you’re the brand’s marketing chief, how do you handle that—celebrate it? Ignore it?

Cadillac CMO Uwe Ellinghaus said the iconic car company’s leaders felt compelled to enter the political conversation. That led them to release the ad “Carry” during the Oscars this year, featuring documentary-style footage of Americans over the past century, ranging from soldiers to protesters to Muhammad Ali waxing his Caddy. There’s a hopeful call for unity: “While we’re not the same, we can be one.”

“The 45th president of the United States is chauffeured in a Cadillac—that’s a fact,” Ellinghaus said today in a speech at the ANA Masters of Marketing conference in Orlando, Fla. “I grew up with the belief a brand needs to be bipartisan, but there are times when a brand needs to stand up.”

Dipping into the nation’s roiling political waters was a risk. “Some [brands] just got a shit storm on social media for their efforts,” he said.

But because the president drives its car, Cadillac was uniquely positioned to deliver that ad, Ellinghaus said. Its vehicles symbolize luxury for older, affluent Americans. And the brand has been aggressively targeting younger drivers with influencer campaigns, art installations and a home base in New York. In short, it can speak to both sides of the political spectrum.

“It’s a credible source if it comes from Cadillac that we say dear America, we need to come together,” he said. “We didn’t want to fuel the political divide; we wanted to transcend it.”

After the spot aired, the CMO said he received an email from Breitbart News praising it as one of the best pro-Trump ads it had seen. He also received letters from The New York Times readers hailing it as the best anti-Trump spot.

Trump’s presidential limousine, known as “Cadillac One,” debuted on Inauguration Day. The 8-ton beast is equipped with military-grade armor, a tear gas cannon and vials of the president’s blood type. The New York Post estimated the cost at $1.5 million, and the car captivated the French press when it traveled to Paris this summer.

The mogul’s relationship with Cadillac dates back to the 1980s, when he reportedly planned to release a Trump Cadillac Series of stretch limos. The deal fell through, but the Volo Auto Museum in Illinois recently acquired a prototype, complete with fax machine and paper shredder.

13464: Cadillac—Err Greatly.

A MultiCultClassics visitor spotted “Cadillac Cancels Neo-Nazi Ad After Online Outrage” at Gizmodo. The luxury car brand took heat over a casting call for a Cadillac commercial that sought fill a “neo-Nazi” role. Cadillac responded to the public protest as follows:

Cadillac did not authorize or approve a casting notice for an “alt-right (neo-nazi)” role in a commercial. We unequivocally condemn the notice and are seeking immediate answers from our creative agency, production company and any casting companies involved.

According to the Gizmodo report, the casting company became the initial scapegoat, immediately firing an allegedly rogue employee and also blaming an “outside third party” for further altering the specs. Really? When has a casting company ever initiated a call without direct instructions from an advertising agency? The casting company will probably declare, “Sorry, we misinterpreted what the White advertising agency—Publicis Worldwide—originally requested. They were actually seeking a neo-Yahtzee enthusiast. Our bad.”

Interestingly enough, Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus is of German descent. So maybe there was some subliminal intent. Plus, according to the casting specs, Publicis Worldwide was looking for neo-Nazis of all ethnicities. This is in keeping with the White advertising agency’s faux commitment to diversity; that is, Publicis publicly professes a dedication to inclusiveness—while privately maintaining an Aryan Race-like workforce.

12551: Cadillac Fails Greatly.

The new Cadillac commercial featuring Njeri Rionge—including a Behind the Scenes video—sure feels awfully forced and patronizing. Dare greatly? More like fail greatly.

12281: Cadillac Drives In Circles.

Advertising Age reported Cadillac has driven its account to a new White advertising agency, Publicis Worldwide. The luxury car brand has switched gears—in terms of switching its White agencies—a lot in recent years, with Publicis shops benefiting from the reassignments. The only thing that is constant is change. Except in the advertising industry, where change means constantly awarding accounts to generic White agencies within exclusive holding companies.

Cadillac Leaving Lowe for Publicis

Shop to Become Auto Brand’s New Global Creative Agency of Record

By Malika Toure

Cadillac has named Publicis Worldwide its new global agency of record, Ad Age has learned.

The decision comes less than two months after the dissolution of Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Rogue, which was created to handle Cadillac. The now-disbanded shop originally consisted of Lowe & Partners; Boston creative agency Hill Holliday and Detroit-based Campbell Ewald—the last of which has now merged with Lowe.

According to Kantar Media, Cadillac spent $280 million in measured media in 2013.

Lowe & Partners’ creative responsibilities will be moving to Publicis, according to executives familiar with the matter. The agency is still handling below-the-line work for the auto brand, including customer relationship management, though that may change as the account transitions over to Publicis.

Both Publicis and Lowe-Campbell Ewald declined to comment.

This is only one of the changes from the auto brand this year. First, Uwe Ellinghaus joined the company as CMO in January; later that month, the company changed its logo. Mr. Ellinghaus succeeded Don Butler, who had been in the position for nine months. In July, former Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen was appointed president at Cadillac. Most recently, the company announced its plan to move its headquarters to New York City’s SoHo neighborhood.

This is the latest in a number of agency shifts for Cadillac in recent years. Since ending its relationship with Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett in 2006 the company has worked with Modernista, Publicis’ BBH, Publicis’ Fallon and Rogue.

8001: General Motors Goes Beyond General Market.

According to this Advertising Age story, it appears that General Motors is slowly reversing its decisions to dump minority advertising agencies in favor of White firms. Hey, it’s the least the automaker can do, given the fact that they received bailout money from a Black president.

GM Assigns Cadillac to Carol H. Williams
Automaker Brings Back Former Multicultural Agency

By Laurel Wentz

NEW YORK -- General Motors Corp. is bringing back one of its former multicultural agencies, Carol H. Williams, to handle the African-American assignment for Cadillac.

Cadillac announced today it will be working with the independent African-American agency in conjunction with Fallon, Cadillac’s creative agency of record. Unlike other GM brands, Cadillac doesn’t have a U.S. Hispanic agency of record.

“We need to tell the Cadillac story to affluent, urban consumers in ways that are relevant to them,” said GM’s Joel Ewanick, VP-marketing. “Carol H. Williams has worked with Cadillac and other luxury brands in the past, and we think their experience will be valuable as we develop a multicultural marketing strategy for GM’s flagship brand.”

Ad Age reported earlier this week that GM named Spike DDB, the joint partnership between film director Spike Lee and DDB Worldwide focusing on integrated communications and niche marketing to African-Americans, trendsetters and transcultural consumers, as its African-American agency of record for Chevrolet. Carol H. Williams held the Chevrolet business until 2008, when it moved to Sanders/Wingo, El Paso, Texas after a review but that turned out to be a short-lived assignment.

Until the two Cadillac and Chevrolet assignments announced this week, GM had no African-American agency of record.

Carol H. Williams is the fourth-largest African-American agency, with 2009 revenue of $21.02 million, an 11.7% drop from the previous year, according to Ad Age’s multicultural agency ranking. Spike DDB was ranked No. 15, with 2009 revenue of $2.6 million.

On the Chevrolet agency roster, Spike DDB joined Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and U.S. Hispanic agency LatinWorks. Both were selected, without review, by Mr. Ewanick. Unlike the scattershot of African-American work, Mr. Ewanick’s choice of LatinWorks replaced 13-year Hispanic marketing incumbent Accentmarketing, Miami. LatinWorks was Advertising Age’s 2009 Multicultural Agency of the Year.

The appointment of an Asian-American agency is still to be determined.

7439: More General Motors Bullshit.

Advertising Age reported General Motors handed its Cadillac account to Bartle Bogle Hegarty in New York. Plus, the story claims that the automaker boosted media spending to a whopping $270 million in 2008. This was also the year GM cut its Black advertising agency for the brand, despite initially insisting no such thing would happen. To bring matters full circle, at the 2009 Diversity in Advertising Career Day, BBH allegedly set up a table with a sign requesting candidates simply drop off résumés. Funny how it all works out.

GM Hands $270 Million Cadillac Account to BBH
With Its First Auto Client, Shop Likely to Take Brand in New Direction

By Rupal Parekh
January 08, 2010

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — General Motors’ Cadillac has chosen Bartle Bogle Hegarty, New York, as its new creative agency after a review that began in October, say execs familiar with the matter. The shop succeeds Boston-based indie Modernista, which worked on the account for three years.

The final round of the pitch was a three-way battle between Publicis Groupe-backed Bartle Bogle; Publicis, New York; and Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Martin Agency. GM evidently made a decision quickly, as final presentations have been taking place over the last two days. BBH and Publicis are said to have made presentations on Wednesday, while Martin Agency was the last to pitch, just yesterday afternoon. Consultancy Ark Advisors in New York was tapped by GM to manage the agency review.

Modernista was invited to re-pitch the account—the agency’s largest—but declined, citing “creative and strategic differences.” Earlier in the process, Omnicom Group’s DDB, Chicago; Interpublic’s Gotham; and independent McKinney, Durham, N.C., also pitched ideas, but were eliminated before the finals.

GM increased domestic measured-media spending behind its Cadillac brand for full year 2008 to nearly $270 million, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

This is the first auto account for the New York office of Bartle Bogle, which works with other brands such as Ally Bank and Google, and the shop is sure to take advertising for GM’s luxury brand in a new direction from that established by Modernista. The outgoing agency had created campaigns that tried to bring an erotic, youthful allure to the brand, with celebrities such as Kate Walsh and music from modern bands like Phoenix.

GM has been making a flurry of changes related to its advertising initiatives—both internally within the marketing suite and externally with the agencies it works with. Just last month, it shifted half of its Chevrolet creative account from Interpublic’s Campbell-Ewald to Publicis in Seattle and Dallas. Publicis was tapped to handle Olympics work for three models, the Malibu, Traverse and Equinox.

Bartle Bogle was a finalist in Audi of America’s review in 2006, and the agency’s London office handles Audi in the U.K. In the Audi of America review, the agency pitched against incumbent McKinney, which had held the account from 1993 to 2006. The account is now with Venables, Bell & Partners.