16984: At The Intersection Of Advertising Executives & Used Car Salespeople.

 

Epsilon Individual Automotive offered a Presidents’ Day sale—yet no Black History Month promotion.

 

Not surprising when two of the least trusted professions collide.

16849: Spiritual Guidance To Avoid Stickler Shock.

 

CarGurus should trade in their name for a newer—and culturally competent—model.

16357: Demanding Deceitful, Double-Dealing, Devilish Designs.

 

Demand Local helps car dealerships and White advertising agencies work together more effectively. Gee, given that car dealers and advertising people are consistently rated among the least trusted professions, does this service enhance deceptive, duplicity, and dastardly skills?

15976: Electric Car Charging Stations Brand Needs Energy.

“Confessions of a Petroholic”—a podcast miniseries for Fastned from the Netherlands—takes a long, winding road to promote adopting electric vehicles. Creating a loose connection between driving cars and alcoholism is typically frowned upon. Although any frowns in this case are the result of recognizing a mediocre and contrived concept.

 

The Fastned brand is progressive. This campaign is not—it’s a car wreck.

 

14722: Renault Repeats Really Rundown Rubbish.

Publicis in the UK is responsible for this Renault campaign. How many auto brands have produced variations of this lame concept?

9710: Chevrolet Route 66 Is A Bad Trip.

Chevrolet Route 66 is one of those crowdsourcing promotions whereby people submit commercial concepts for prizes and the chance to see their big idea play during the Super Bowl. The tired formula actually ran out of gas years ago, yet lazy advertisers continue to ride with it annually.

The Chevy contest is obscene for a host of reasons.

First, the car company opened the field to everyone, including independent directors and filmmakers. This allowed D- and F-level production houses to essentially expel fecal matter spec work.

Second, Chevy presented cash prizes starting at $1,000 and topping at $25,000. Um, the average cost to create a television spot is over $300,000. It’s a safe bet that the typical Chevy commercial shoot spends more than $1,000 just for craft services.

Third, while the winning commercial is OK, does anyone believe Chevy’s lead advertising agency, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, couldn’t come up with something much, much better?

Finally, it’s appalling that Chevy would take advantage of the desperation fueled by a lousy economy—especially when the automaker needed a federal bailout to avoid complete financial collapse.

9502: Chevy Runs Deeper.

Based on vehicle purchases, Chevrolet ranks among the top three auto brands with Blacks. Is it because of lame commercials like this—or do Tone and Shag deserve the credit?

8130: I Have A Dream Car.

Mercedes-Benz used Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to hype vehicles. And Volkswagen did likewise. WTF, it’s not even Black History Month yet. Plus, the brands and advertising agencies responsible for the work are hardly supporters of the Civil Rights leader’s iconic dream, at least based on their diversity records. What’s next? Malcolm X for BMW X Series? Rosa Parks for Honda SUVs?

6825: The Obvious And The Inevitable.

No surprises in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert admitted he’s gay in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. “I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay,” said Lambert, adding, “I’m trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader.” Actually, it would be cool if American Idol produced a spin-off show to search for the next civil rights superstar.

• The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal over the Chrysler-Fiat deal, and the Italian automaker sealed the sale. FOX will probably produce a reality TV show to document the auto industry bankruptcies.

6812: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting.

Martial Arts & Crafts in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Was David Carradine actually killed by kung fu assassins? Carradine’s friends and family are urging the FBI to investigate, claiming the actor may have run into trouble while trying to uncover groups scheming in the martial-arts underworld. Why not ask The Bride to get involved too?

• Men’s Wearhouse bought Filene’s Basement at a bankruptcy auction. Wonder if George Zimmer told Filene’s Basement executives, “You’re going to like the way you look; I guarantee it.”

• Opponents of Chrysler-Fiat sale are attempting to apply the brakes to the proposed deal, calling on the Supreme Court to intervene. Somebody should ask to read the CARFAX® Report.

• John Stamos is considering appearing in a movie remake of “Full House.” Can somebody please request the Supreme Court block this move too?

6699: News Droppings.

Financial and unnatural disasters in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Chrysler will file for bankruptcy, as the contextual ads literally circle like vultures.

• Starbucks reported 2Q earnings dropped 77 percent. Maybe the company should return to using the breast-baring mermaid logo and let baristas go topless too.

• Dow Chemical reported 1Q profits dropped 97 percent, yet still beat Wall Street’s expectations. Wow, talk about low expectations.

• The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) pulled a downloadable children’s coloring book following complaints from parents. The book featured pictures of the 9-11 terrorist attack. A FEMA official said, “We removed the content from our Web site after reviewing www.FEMA.gov for appropriate material. FEMA for Kids assists children in understanding disasters and we will continue to post appropriate material that supports its mission.” Guess kids can look forward to the upcoming Hurricane Katrina watercolor book.

6471: Saab Jets To Bankruptcy.

The news that Saab filed for bankruptcy jogged MultiCultClassics’ memory, leading back to a 2005 post. Be sure to check out the classic AdPulp post and thread too—with prophetic and hilarious commentary from David Burn, Danny G and HighJive.