Man survives 7 Days in a Sentra
No, this isn't an inspiring story about a man who survived being trapped in his Nissan Sentra for a week by eating forgotten french fries that fell beneath his front seat. Rather, it's part of Nissan's clever marketing campaign for the new Sentra, which goes a fair bit beyond the traditional TV and print ads. In order to attract attention to its newest small car offering, Nissan stuffed a Sentra with aspiring comedian Mark Horowitz and told him his new address for the next seven days would be wherever he could find a parking spot. There were rules by which the young Horowitz, who appears to be the love child of Dane Cook and Napolean Dynamite, would have to abide if he were to get paid at the end of the week, which include the following...
- Must live 7 straight days out of the Sentra. He is free to come and go from the Sentra.
- Must not return to his apartment at any point during the 7 days.
- Must assume his normal day-to-day responsibilities, including work and scheduled meetings.
- Must personally prepare at least 4 meals within the immediate vicinity of the Sentra.
- Must go on at least one date. Hopefully more.
- Must not let anyone else drive his car during the 7 days.
- Must sleep in a different location each night. Once the location is chosen he must not move.
- Must not set foot outside of the car for any reason from 12am – 5am.
- Must host at least one "social function" in the Sentra.
- Must maintain the highest standards of personal hygiene.
We also discovered that Nissan has already entered the world of Second Life to market the new Sentra, whereas we reported yesterday that Pontiac was planning to give away free land in the game starting sometime in November. We like Nissan's presence in the virtual world of Second Life more because it set up a virtual dealership and is giving away Sentras free in the game! The Second Life presence ties in with the Horowitz thing as well, since you can watch all of the comedian's web videos inside Second Life while choosing the color for your free Sentra (Check out Nissan's press release after the jump for details on nabbing on your Second Life Sentra).
[Source: Nissan]
PRESS RELEASE:
In addition to the "7 Days in a Sentra" Blog, Nissan has also bought an online "island" in SecondLife. Game players can go to Nissan's island to visit a virtual dealership, get a digital version of the Sentra, and learn about the car's features. In order to select a free Nissan Sentra from the "vending machine" of choices, you must IM Marc's sidekick "Toast Alicious" for the password. You can then pick your favorite color as well as choose from two rim options. Once you have a car, you are encouraged to defeat gravity in the LOOP D LOOP, play with mini Sentra RC cars, and more all while watching the Marc Horowitz "webisodes" from '7 Days in a Sentra', ultimately tying it all together.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stacey 4:36PM (10/24/2006)
Of all the cars to spend 7 days in....
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mark 4:42PM (10/24/2006)
Is it just me or this "reality" stuff and "experiments" is getting a bit old? I'm already bored...
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Dave Thomas 4:43PM (10/24/2006)
i vaguely remember a car magazine running a story on Living out of your car and what vehicle is the best to do it in. I believe it was the Honda Element.
hmmm...wonder where Nissan got the idea.
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Matt 4:50PM (10/24/2006)
Wasn't there a fresh prince episode where he had to live in a car for a week or something?
Also, the sentra has pretty bad safety ratings (judging by my ludicrous premiums) so it's good to hear people are at least surviving.
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Dman 4:54PM (10/24/2006)
I think it is an ingenious marketing campaign. Never heard of the Honda Element, guess it wasn't really well advertised.
Most college kids live out of their cars anyways.
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Richard Warren 5:13PM (10/24/2006)
Dumb ad.
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Ted K 5:17PM (10/24/2006)
Way dumb. Way boring. Way lame.
Nissan's still struggling for a hit ever since the 350Z went out of style.
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Sgt. Hulka 5:30PM (10/24/2006)
Lame. But because it is Nissan and Japanese, then I guess that it's OK. The Americans could never pull a stupid-ass stunt like this. They'd be branded as gimicky and weak.
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Nat 5:48PM (10/24/2006)
Didn't Top Gear already do this?
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Emil Stringer 6:07PM (10/24/2006)
I spend several days in my car every year, without all the comforts of home. Oh, you mean commutes don't count?
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jimmy_jones 6:29PM (10/24/2006)
Don’t a lot of crazies and bums live out of their cars?? Is that nissan's target market? DUM
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rwcmick 6:40PM (10/24/2006)
We were just discussing this ad at lunch. My coworker swore up and down that the ad was for a Jetta and was shocked to find out that in fact it was for Nissan's Sentra. I don't know how many other people would fall into this category, but I don't think it's a very good sign. Too much focus on the gimmick, not enough on the product.
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chewy 8:41PM (10/24/2006)
Not that good of an ad campaign. The longer clip on Nissan's web site is ok, but the short commercials are even lamer.
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GT AE '06 7:32PM (10/24/2006)
"5. I think it is an ingenious marketing campaign. Never heard of the Honda Element, guess it wasn't really well advertised. Most college kids live out of their cars anyways."
What? If this is sarcasm I don't get it. I think that was a great campaign (FOR THE ELEMENT) b/c even though it is fairly ugly on the outside (the Mk 1), the interior space is RIDCULOUS (compared to what you suspect the interior space might be from viewing the outside of the vehicle)! Seriously, the rear seat is raised up so you feel like you're getting chauffered around on a throne. And definitely very roomy... I'm a coupe guy (6'1"), but whenever i'm riding with my friend who owns one, I actually call "right ball" and not "shotgun" =)
"9. Didn't Top Gear already do this?"
Yessir, though it was only for 24 hours. However they never left the car during that time (hence the pissing in a bottle). Ordering pizza to the "woods" was fairly hilarious.
IMO: I see these Sentra commercials all the time on ESPN and NFL Network... I think the fact that he's really doing this lends some creedence to the commercials... HOWEVER, who would actually buy this car to sleep/live in it? I understand the message is that its roomy for a compact car, but Nissan has other commercials for this new Sentra that portray that message much more accurately. To me, showing a commercial like this is not all that humorous, and takes away from the verity of the message (sorta like showing an F-Series Super Duty commerical of an F-350 pulling an 'Icebreaker'-ship through the arctic, and then pasting "dramatization" at the bottom).
Shift_1.9 lol
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Edsel 7:43PM (10/24/2006)
Long before welfare, lot's of families lived out of cars for a lot more than seven days.
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Zane Ryder 12:38AM (10/25/2006)
Does anyone else want to punch Mark Horowitz in the face ... or is it just me?
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Joe 9:28AM (10/25/2006)
More proof that Autoblog has jumped the shark.
It's a stupid ad.
It's the kind of ad that writes itself, typical in every way, every scene crafted from another. So boring. Such an insult to the target audience.
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Jen 11:48AM (10/25/2006)
Just to point this out, Pontiac will also have a virtual dealership in its Second Life space, with test drives etc. Giving items away can upset the Second Life economy, angering other (non corporate) residents who sell things there, so that's why Pontiac is selling its cars in SL--at a comparable SL market value similar to things for sale by SL individuals.
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marc horowitz 6:13AM (10/31/2006)
punch me... i'm yours. happy halloween!
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