Ad Fight!: BMW, Audi and Subaru in ad grudge match
The International Advertiser Bitch Slapping Awards (IABSA) have been announced this week and the finalists include three of the world's most prestigious automakers.
The trouble began when BMW released an ad for its new 3-series and congratulated Audi for winning the South African car of the Year award. Certainly an esteemed honor in it's own right, but BMW signed the congratulations with the line, "From the winner of the world car of the year award 2006." Ohhhh, snap!
Audi's PR guerrillas, not willing to sit idly by while being assaulted in the print realm, fought back with the ferocity expected from the German carmaker. They parried BMW's thrust with an ad proclaiming that the "world car of the year award" was nice, but we've kicked butt at LeMans for six consecutive years, so put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Then, from the east, comes Subaru, who wanted a piece of this chest-pounding, automotive aggression and jumped in with an ad proclaiming, "Well done to Audi and BMW for winning the beauty contest. From the winner of the 2006 International Engine of the Year Winner." Burn!
The full ads can be viewed in all their egregious glory after the jump.
[Tipage goes to Rsplatpc]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
masonmakita 7:18AM (4/14/2009)
Audi: lemans winner? jeez. who they racing w/? panoz and other privateers? no one was in lemans. all the big boys were in FORMULA 1. VW (audi) boss was quoted that there was too much competition in F1. huh? does he mean when only small fries compete will he bring VW's audi in the mix?
the majors pulled out of lemans in the late 90s to concentrate on their F1 programmes. audi can keep racing w/ the junior leagues.
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C 12:16PM (8/08/2006)
Has anyone verified that these aren't the Photochops they look like? Anyone skilled in the art could add some text to a picture in about 5 minutes.
I have some Porsche ads I made in high school, if I send a link will someone call me a "PR guerrilla?"
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Jon 7:30AM (4/14/2009)
sorry for the 3 year old reply, but these ads are real, I can still remember them back in high school I saw them on newspapers, i think they appeared one day after the other.
storm9 12:17PM (8/08/2006)
haha Subaru... is first of all not "prestigious". And BMW won more 06 international engine of the year awards(in different catagories) that Subarau ever did. BMW won like 5. Subaru..1.
BMW won in the desiel, the V10 M engine, and a few more.
It didnt win the 4 banger catagory(which subarau won) b/c BMW doesnt make that many 4 bangers.
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Tsarmina 12:18PM (8/08/2006)
lol. Go Subaru
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330R 12:26PM (8/08/2006)
Audi may want to pay closer attention..
2000-2006 would be seven consecutive years, not six.
Oh, I found the problem.. they didn't win in 2003; Bentley did. Oops.
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sunny_lagga 8:59AM (4/14/2009)
so if Bentley won, how is that consecutive?
Bow Tie Optional 12:27PM (8/08/2006)
A potato on wheels could win over a Subaru in a beauty contest...
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bgdc 12:28PM (8/08/2006)
Do people really care if a car wins awards? COTY from Motor Trend is the laughing stock of the auto world. Saying an engine is one Ward's 10 Best list is like saying you won something during McDonald's monopoly game. Whoopty freaking do.
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required 12:34PM (8/08/2006)
If Audi didn't win in 2003, then it's not consecutive for 6 years, now is it?
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Rich 12:37PM (8/08/2006)
Subaru may not be as "prestigious" (read overpriced) as BMW or Audi, but has some of the best cars under 30K. The Legacy GT is a fine car and blows away similarly priced Audi or BMW models.
FYI - Subaru won just one award while BMW won 4 awards, but in the category that Subaru won (2.0-2.5 liter), Subaru and BMW were direct competitors.
Also FYI, there is no diesel category.
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ruggels 12:43PM (8/08/2006)
#3... who owns bentley again? oh VAG. And what happened in 03? Oh bentley released a new model... though i'm sure it was an honest win, why would audi throw a race to allow bentley some cred for thier most profitable and best selling car to date. oh that's right, it's called business :).
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jg 12:55PM (8/08/2006)
'The Legacy GT is a fine car and blows away similarly priced Audi or BMW models.
'
I can't speak for Audi but nothing made by Subaru blows away anything made by BMW. Apples and oranges.
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Rev 7:48PM (4/13/2009)
An STI will blow away any similarly priced BMW, no contest. Unless you're simply talking touchy-feely materials... Also reliability/build quality, I'll take Soobie. I've been in too many overpriced Beemers already squeaking after a couple years of life nevermind the mechanical issues.
Any questions? Check the Top Gear test-track results. Pretty sad that a $55+k BMW M3 can't outperform a $35k hatchback, eh?
Heck, check comparo reviews for when the WRX just came to the states. Even back then a BMW couldn't compare and now they're bigger and uglier...
holy_cow 12:55PM (8/08/2006)
Subaru makes superb cars and all, but honestly their ad was a bit unwarranted, opportunistic and piggybacky. As has been pointed out, BMW bested everyone at the Engine Awards anyway. Subaru's use of the words 'From the winner of the 2006 International Engine of the Year' seem to refer to the overall prize, when that one went to BMW's V10. So, in short - lame.
Well done Audi, though. Bet those Bavarian boys are plenty sore at having essentially sucked exhaust fumes at F1 for so many years.
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Cap'n 1:02PM (8/08/2006)
Go Audi... the true ultimate driving machine.
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Subarus aren't pretty 1:07PM (8/08/2006)
A couple of years back Subaru ran an ad in the US that showed a Forester 2.5XT and said "The vaunted 350Z just got smoked by a family of five and a dog."
They're good with this stuff.
It's a bit ironic that Subaru talks about not winning beauty contests and then shows the hideous nose of their new WRX front and center. Subaru, why can't you make good looking cars anymore?
I'd definitely take a Subaru over a BMW and Audi. And I own an Audi right now!
ruggels:
When Audi (more likely VAG) decided to run a thinly cloaked R8 as a Bentley Speed 8 in Le Mans in 2003, they gave up the right to say Audi won X years in a row. You can't run a modifed car under a new name and then say you won anyway. In my personal opinion, VAG blew it big time when they fielded a Bentley to win in 2003. How many companies can say their car win Le Mans 6 years in a row, every time it was entered including its rookie year? Well, not Audi. But they could have, if they had done things differently.
I don't get how you think the Bentley Speed 8 is Bentley's most profitable and best selling car to date, as it was never offered for sale.
For those saying BMW won more engine awards than Subaru. Well, Subaru only has engines in two classes, and they won one of them, beating BMW. That's a pretty good record. Honestly, I don't like these engine awards much anyway. They tend to pick overpriced, overcomplex, overweight, oversized, poor mpg OHC engines because they happen to have high HP/displacement ratings (due to their high redlines).
When BMW can reduce the new M5 V10 to the same size and weight as the LS7, we can talk about engine awards. And then they can work on matching the cost and mpg too.
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Dr. Woo 1:23PM (8/08/2006)
Audi's redesigned A6 won World CotY in 2005...
BMW won 4 IEotY categories, VW/Audi won 3, and Subaru won...one.
Then, as specified by the agency, "The winners of the engine capacity class are then automatically shortlisted for the overall prize of International Engine of the Year." The winner? BMW's 5.0L V10.
Somebody at Subaru PR didn't do their homework.
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Ferguson McSqueege 1:44PM (8/08/2006)
And recently Subaru ran an ad attacking VW's Fast campaign that I found humorous.
"When you go 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, you don't need a made-up character called Fast."
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Bob-o 1:51PM (8/08/2006)
But BMW doesn't field a team on a prototype chassis...so who cares but themselves? The only major manufacturer to field a team in the last 6 years has been Cadillac, and if you can't beat Cadillac, you've got issues (although the Corvette team remains dominant).
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