Our Country, Our Truck: GM's Silverado marketing campaign
The PR people at GM have described their new line of GMT900 pickups as, "the most important product release in General Motor's history," and it very well may be. With a new player in the market in the form of the Tundra and a new F-150 due in the near future, the General is banking on the Silverado and the Sierra to shore up the pickup truck segment in its favor.
To that end, its new ad campaign is aiming directly at who GM feels is its target demographic: rural, married men who love their families, their jobs and their country.
The new spots, which will debut during Monday Night Football, are a look back on the last 50 years of American culture, including the good, the bad and the profound. John Mellencamp serenades over images of baseball, farms and other assorted Americana, including an image of the "Towers of Light" that emanated from Ground Zero after the attacks of 9/11 and, oddly, an image of an atomic bomb test.
Our blogging brethren over at Jalopnik have a full report from the media event they attended and give a more detailed synopsis, along with some analysis of the General's newest ad campaign.
[Source: Jalopnik]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Mad Detroiter 12:53AM (9/26/2006)
Awesome! It's about time someone kicked the political correctness to the curb and started advertising REAL trucks to REAL Americans! General, keep it coming!
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hmmm 12:56AM (9/26/2006)
Ya know it looks ok if you truly like the 1990-1996 dodge dakota ! and we hope it sells lol .... talk about retro designs and bad copy of a competitors truck ! Sorry GM but it aint enough for huge sales its a total yawn !
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http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7828/199096dodgedakotajq1.jpg
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330R 1:16AM (9/26/2006)
I'm sorry.. I love my country (USA) but I don't need to be preached to about it by a corporation. Honestly, this reeks of poor taste in my opinion, and it makes me a little sick. It just smacks of propaganda! Overtly! I haven't even seen the ad yet, of course, but just from reading the Jalopnik article, I get the distinct idea it's going to be even freakin' cheesier than that awful airbag commercial from not so long ago.
Really, why can't GM just talk up their PRODUCT and put down the patriotism card. It seems so.. desperate. There's nothing wrong at all with loving your homeland, but using it to sell your wares? Including images of a terrorist attack.. to sell trucks? Images from the darkest days of the Cold War? What about the trucks themselves? Are they any good? Who knows?! But we're some mushroom cloud-layin' motherflubbers, motherflubber!
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TriShield 1:19AM (9/26/2006)
I agree with #1. It's been long overdue for US automakers to start getting people to root for the hometeam and started flaunting their Americaness. I'd like to see GM come up with similar patriotic campaigns for the rest of their products, especially with the Camaro on the way.
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Ayaz 5:48AM (9/26/2006)
It is a super vehicle..
Pakcar
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Michael F 1:52AM (9/26/2006)
As someone living on the "wrong" side of the Atlantic, and certainly not the demographic being targeted by GM, my comments might seem a bit superfluous. But, oh my God, what a large pile of bull!
That the US is extremely patriotic everyone knows, yet this takes patriotism to new levels of idiocy. "Remember the 9/11 victims Joey: by buying our truck!" And the nuke images... comparable to VW boasting of their links to the Third Reich. I'm all in favour of political correctness being given the boot, but where has simple decency gone to?
Sure, it might sell GM a couple more overweight, obsolete, agricultural-machinery-disguised-as-passenger-vehicles; but it will hurt its image as far as moderate, modern minded people are concerned. Do you think that's a wise move in today's competitive world?
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Michael 1:55AM (9/26/2006)
What a manipulative, pathetic campaign. Scenes reminiscent of the tragedy of 9/11 to sell a TRUCK? GM has reached a new low. If these news trucks aren't the absolute best in their class than GM doesn't deserve a DIME.
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Michael 1:58AM (9/26/2006)
Yikes, pardon my grammar/spelling mistakes above.
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Jamie 2:06AM (9/26/2006)
Michael, spelling is the least of your problems.
You had to get your daily Bush-bash in did you?
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Whydrive 2:07AM (9/26/2006)
And Toyota should stop advertising about how many American jobs they've created.
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Michael F 2:28AM (9/26/2006)
>>9. And Toyota should stop advertising about how many American jobs they've created.
>>Posted at 2:06AM on Sep 26th 2006 by Whydrive
That doesn't really justify reminding them of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. GM has committed a gaffe and should be manly enough to apologise and retract the images. Or if it not manly, at least quietly retract the images.
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Andy 2:54AM (9/26/2006)
The "patriotic" card is being tossed around by everyone in business and polity. Toyota and Hyundai have been touting the same card, telling of how their products are built in the American heartland. #3 (33R) seems to have gone to an extreme, bringing up "images of terrorist attacks." I think that kind of hysteria is not serious.
This marketing effort will be controversial, but it throws P.C. mentality out the window. And that's not a bad thing. I'm sure Toyota will portray the Tacoma as a real American pickup as well.
As for the Dakota remark--nah, it doesn't look like one. It's not a real big change in looks, but neither is the new G35, Mini, or Tiburon.
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Jamie 2:35AM (9/26/2006)
Who said anythign about Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
You're just itching to bash GM again.
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asp 3:10AM (9/26/2006)
How is this "bashing GM?" Its so frsustrating, any comment that isn't seen as blindly following GM's continual lumbering mistakes is seen as a dig at America, George Bush and the struggle of the U.S.'s not-so-big 3. How can you have a rational discussion with such a narrow-minded attitude? Your level of sensitivity is laughable, I love the fact that you're happily endorsing vehicles that aren't competitive so that you're supporting your country. Does the smug false impression of your perception of patriotism compensate for driving agricultural vehicles when 99% of the time a car would be more appropriate. Yes I know some of them are used for work duty, and those customers should continue driving & purchasing pick-ups, but why do you honestly need them for daily driving? Such actions are obselete and the sooner buyers in the U.S. reaalise this, Ford, G.M & DaimlerChrysler will start to make profit again.
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Nat 12:00PM (9/26/2006)
The only people this advertising will appeal to are the ones who were gonna buy the dang truck anyway. Way to drop the ball on any potential conquest sales GM. Just what you need right now.
I've got to find out what god-awful ad agency they use so that I can make fun of them.
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Michael F 3:12AM (9/26/2006)
@ Number 11:
Nuclear weapons have only ever been used twice in anger, against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Seeing how GM is in direct competition with Toyota, someone in the marketing department should have realised that their choice of images was not in the best of tastes.
There are lot of images that could have highlighted the Cold War, or American military might. The fall of the Berlin Wall, or some aircraft carrier bedecked with flags, would have served the purpose much more effectively.
And where am I "just itching to bash GM again"? (Please do not confuse me with other posters.) One of the cars I'm salivating about at the moment is the Vauxhall (Holden) Monaro. OK, so it Australian, but still GM.
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330R 3:39AM (9/26/2006)
Andy,
How did I go to an extreme? It's not my commercial...
I was speaking of the scene of a terrorist attack, not images of the actual attack itself.
It's just a cheap ploy to yank on people's emotions. Whether it's true or not, that's something I'd expect a company to do when the product isn't good enough to sell on its own merit.
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fizzandpop 4:07AM (9/26/2006)
I've heard that these trucks will only be available in red, white and blue. But seriously, this is genius. If you critisize these ads, you hate your country and you hate freedom. Perfect. There have already been a few knobs on here pretty much saying that. So if you don't go out and buy this Dodge Dakota rehash (if you can't see that you're beeerlind) then, well you know the rest. Boring, really idiotic.
BUT. There is nothing wrong with trying to tie a national identity into the marketing of a car. IF IT'S DONE RIGHT. German cars have been sold for decades on the notion that Krauts are cool, logical, level-headed folks who are a bit handy with a slide rule. Jags, Bentlies and Rolls' have been bought with the belief that the English know something about qulaity and luxury (ha!). Swedes are safe, Italians are passionate, Koreans are, er, whatever, you get my drift.
Yes, we should not be ashamed to bang the patriotic drum a bit for a product that supports so many jobs and is so important to the daily lives of millions of Americans. But it has to all come back to THE PRODUCT in the end, and if it's a tenuous link that people just can't believe in, then this campaign, and ultimately this truck will fail. If people think it's over the top an inappropriate, then the agency will find out faster than you can say Employee Value Cash Back Bonus Rebate Celebrhation Sales Event. Personally, I think anyone evoking the Twin Towers treads a very fine line.
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Michael F 4:34AM (9/26/2006)
I agree wholeheartedly with fizzandpop. There is nothing inherently wrong with patriotism, and with trying to give a car a "national" feel. Injecting character is something to be encouraged actually in these days of lookalike "white-goods" cars.
If the car can live up to this character, though. I am no fan of agricultural machinery masquerading as vehicles, yet if there is a market for them in the US General Motors should take some time to come up with a quality brand new offering that can embody this "American Pride".
What it's doing, I'm afraid, is using cheap bullying tactics (normally the reserve of politicians) to move stock that would otherwise not have sold as well.
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FGT 6:56AM (9/26/2006)
This new truck, with this new slogan is going to kick *** across America. Sure, it might be "controversial", but were at a time where we need all the patriotism we can get. WTG GM!
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