Posted on 12/04/2009 10:05:50 AM PST by opentalk
DETROIT -- Chrysler Group's Olivier Francois, the president-CEO of the Chrysler vehicle brand, has tapped Armando Testa, his ad agency for Italian Lancia, to refashion a Lancia commercial for the U.S. market. Hiring an Italian agency for the work may not sit well with American taxpayers, who bailed out the ailing Chrysler earlier this year with billions of dollars in loans. And all of the several hundreds of staffers of Chrysler Group's longtime ad agency, BBDO Detroit, will be out of work at the end of January when the contract expires.
The 30-second commercial for the sleek Chrysler 300 sedan breaks today on national TV and is very similar to a Lancia commercial from a year ago calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who has been in and out of house arrest since 1989. Although the car is shown, it is not the focus of the commercial. A version of this latest video was initially created as part of the Lancia brand's sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin last month. Lancia also sponsored the event a year ago.
We produced the TV film in honor of all those who put their lives at stake in the hopes of making the world a better place," Mr. Francois said in a prepared statement. "For Chrysler, this is a chance to use our brand image to join with others in the fight for peace and to knock down the walls that divide us. We at Chrysler believe in doing the right thing and making a difference."
Julie Roehm, a former Chrysler Group marketing chief, said social causes have a place in advertising, but she believes the automaker chose the wrong one with this execution.
(Excerpt) Read more at adage.com ...
Hmm.. Print and TV ads showing Chryslers and Dodges, draped with super hot Italian Supermodels? I don’t have a problem with that..
They think OBAMA cann micro manage Chrysler? What a bunch of idjit sods.
Leave Chrysler alone so they can make money to pay back the bail out.
And EFF the unions too!
It sounds like they are draping Chryslers with super hot Nobel laureates.
link to the ad, (pretty strange)
Related yes? -—> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389813/posts
The message is a disconnect to what matters to people here," she said. Americans are focused now on getting back to work and the economy back on track, she said. "I don't think the vast majority of Americas know who this woman is or frankly care."
She said this commercial "says they have no idea who their customer is in the U.S. or have a clue how to connect with them."
They are not focusing on the market or profit motives. This will be a disaster for US. Will buy Ford.
The list, ping
There Andrew Robertson, BBDO's dapper worldwide CEO who flew in from New York for the meeting, stepped in front of the group and informed them that a new contract could not be reached with Chrysler, the office's single client, and that BBDO, Detroit, would be shut down at the end of January. (Nov 16,2009)
New motto for Chrysler:
We Make A Difference With Our Indifferent cars!
I was thinking the same. Been GM for 20 years.
Ford seems to be the company!
“Hiring an Italian agency for the work may not sit well with American taxpayers, who bailed out the ailing Chrysler earlier this year with billions of dollars in loans.”
Hell, Chrysler doesn’t sit too well with Americans as their sales dropped 25%from a year ago....
This just reinforces the perception.
Never buying a Chrysler or GM car again in my lifetime.
It’s Ford or Foreign for me
I said 2 years ago that for good reason Ford would be the only US automaker open in its current form within 5 years. I am with you, wont need a car for a few years, but I will buy a Ford just to piss on the socialists.
I was going to buy the Camaro this year, I waited for it to come out for 2 years. I wanted a 1968 one for the past 20 years.
I won’t buy one anymore
The commercials were produced by Richards in Dallas and have a number of still photos (including Mohammed Ali and Einstein) with a voice over (supposedly the truck talking). It looks like it was done by a high school marketing class on the day all the smart kids were sick.
I have been in the car business my whole life (bodyman, mechanic, salesman, F&I, GM, bank rep) After all that time nothing gets me interested in anything made after 73. That Camaro sends chills down my spine. Kills me it is a Government Motors car.
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