Pontiac product placement targets pulp fiction
Pontiac is breaking new ground with product placement next month with "Rush City," a DC Comics production heavily funded by General Motors in an attempt to hock its Pontiac brand to men in their 20s and 30s. The six-issue series will debut on July 19.
The Pontiac Solstice a chick car? Not when a New York action hero tricks out his GXP with guns and other superhero gear. "Rush City" is about an ordinary guy -- good job as a firefighter, fantastic fiancee with a daughter who's crazy about her soon-to-be stepdad, and a Pontiac Solstice GXP. Then he loses it all, except the car of course. After losing his job, his fiancee and her daughter die in a fire. It's so traumatic for him that he has nothing else to do but become a superhero.
General Motors isn't the only one going after comic book product placement -- DaimlerChrysler and Nike are going there too.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Talis 8:07PM (6/19/2006)
Some people ask, have we gone too far? Now we know. Although I like the solstice, and I cannot wait to test drive a GXP, doing a comic book and not being shy about who's funding it is just wrong.
Now, if an artist thought to him/her self, "wow this is a really cool car, I want to put it in my books” that would be different. But GM, and apparently DaimlerChrysler and Nike as well, producing a book just to hock a product is simply not cool.
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Ben 8:08PM (6/19/2006)
BMW did this with Darkhorse already.
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Dan 9:49PM (6/19/2006)
And before that it was Viper... heavily funded by Chrysler. And this was back when the only worthwhile car they made was the Viper itself. All the baddies rode to their illicit meetings in blacked-out minivans.
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Chris 11:07PM (6/19/2006)
I don't mind this kind of thing if they actually do it well. Look at the BMW Films. Yes, they where ads, but they where entertaining.
As for publically acknoledging who funded it, that helps sell it for me. If Batman suddenly showed up in a GXP for no reason it would look silly, and no one would buy in. Saying "Look, we are paying for this placement, but want you to enjoy the story knowing that up front". I'm ok with that.
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Smoove D 11:32PM (6/19/2006)
I think the funds would be better spent on designing cars that don't suck in the first place.
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Asher 12:04AM (6/20/2006)
Now the Solstice is a chick car?! Dammit, I like convertibles...stop pigeon-holing these sports cars.
per piacere
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Corey W. 8:44AM (6/20/2006)
When did the Solstice become a chick car??
Like previously posted, this type of marketing has been done before, nothing new... Hopefully it works well for GM.
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JH 8:53AM (6/20/2006)
It's cute, and it has an available slushbox... the two main ingredients for a chick car.
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Chris 10:37AM (6/20/2006)
It seems like this is down to two things: Is the Solstice a chick car, and is this a bad advertising campaign.
Its a bit of a chick car, more because its a little bit of an under-performer than anything else. Its a little heavy and a little weak. And I'm saying that as a person on the waiting list for the Sky.
I just like the look of the Sky and the Solstice, even though evidence would lead me to believe that the S2000 or the Miata would be better for the price, or a bump up to a used Boxter of Elise would really make a huge difference.
As for whether the campaign will work, I've seen several articles just talking about it, which is nice. They will get plenty of press, and plenty of pictures of their cars on CNN, and Fox, and such, and yes, some people will buy it for that. On the other end, they may lose a few stuff people that don't want to drive a comic book car, but I doubt they where looking anyway.
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blurger293 12:36AM (6/21/2006)
This reminds me of the movie Demolition Man, where the only songs are corporate jingles.
I don't care how "well done" a corporate movie, comic book, song, painting, or whatever stunt they will throw at us next is: it's still an advertisement and has no artistic merit.
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