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VIDEO: Nissan ad turns Qashqai into skateboard
Nissan's really thinking outside the box with advertising for its new Qashqai crossover. Turning it into a giant skateboard for an unseen giant operator, they portray a Nissan as athletic equipment. With an oddly soothing soundtrack making the sights seem so natural, the Qashqai does things that no vehicle is capable of. But that's not the point really. The ad is showing us how the CUV will tackle anything the urban jungle can throw at it and provide some youthful thrills in the process. Just like a few years ago when potential buyers were doing ollies and following the X Games more closely than the stock market. Just because you're getting older doesn't mean you have to grow up. Very clever and very slick. Follow the jump to see the whole ad via YouTube.
[Source: YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Joe 8:14PM (2/27/2007)
Really outside the box.... Doesn't Jeep have one right now for their urban crap...
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gasman 8:14PM (2/27/2007)
Didn't Jeep make a commercial with the Compass baing used as a scateboard?
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Victor 8:20PM (2/27/2007)
And somehow nissan managed to make the commercial about 100x better than the jeep compass commercials
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Howard Kerr 8:36PM (2/27/2007)
Just a few points about this great commercial:
Parents will just love they way it encourages automotive "ghost riding".
Who wouldn't want to own a small CUV that portrays itself as so small you might be more comfortable wearing it on your feet than actually driving inside it?
Yeah, Nissan REALLY went "outside the box" on this ad, even if the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited did nearly the same thing....MONTHS ago.
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Kowell 9:13PM (2/27/2007)
My question follows the same general idea as the rest of you..... If transforming their car into a skateboard made the Jeep ad a ridiculous flop... why is it that Nissna making the same darn thing is a wonderful idea?
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- 7:01AM (4/29/2008)
The audio had a lot to do with it. Turn off the sound in the Jeep ad and it's much more tolerable. The Nissan commercial had 10 words total, the Jeep had 35 -- several of them in 5 word bites. It was an interesting idea that was probably killed in a boardroom where everyone had their say of what to feature. In the end, it just made me want to get a toy robot since I could barely see the car. Plus why is it so many U.S. car companies have to have annoying rock music? Do they realize impressionable 12 year old boys don't buy cars?
Here's the Jeep ad again since the below video link is dead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOVHOuahD1k
NoNameDenton 9:20PM (2/27/2007)
Wait a second, this commerical looks familiar, oh my gosh, just like Jeep did, I am shocked that Nissan would use this concept, doesn't anyone have an original idea anymore
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Non-Bizarro Adam 9:30PM (2/27/2007)
#5,
The reason that the Nissan ad is a success and the Jeep ad is a flop is as simple as the country of origin. Anything a Domestic does is shit, anything an import does is golden. That may not be the feelings of the astute few who read blogs like this and and can tell the difference between a small bock 350 and a VQ35 V6, but amongst the mainstream media, domestics stink. Get on the bandwagon.
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ronaldraygun 10:22PM (2/27/2007)
howard kerr are you a complete and total moron? can you read what you type? i play super mario does that promote jumping on man eating plants and sliding down pipes? oh wait baby jessica must've played mario too, good call, i stand corrected
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PiCASSO 10:27PM (2/27/2007)
The reason why this Nissan commercial works better for me is two fold:
1. The Jeep Compass looks so bad from the front, and this European Nissan looks pretty good.
2. The Jeep Compass commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QEyuWzfoTM
Spends the initial 15-seconds chasing the Jeep, and then spending time "riding" on the very CGI Jeep. On the other hand, the Nissan commercial is beautifully rendered with a believable person, not some robot that Jeep made up.
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James 1:13AM (2/28/2007)
I think the big difference between the Jeep and Nissan commercials is the fact that Jeep tried way too hard to make the Compass "cool" and "hip,"
while Nissan made it simpler, elegant, sophisticated. The Quashqai doesn't have to try to be a cool car, it just is. And I'm sure by comparing the sales of the two vehicles, that will be come apparent.
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wetstuff 8:20AM (2/28/2007)
As as long time skater: I can relate. I certainly cannot relate to the fruits in the Jag ads.
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wetstuff 8:22AM (2/28/2007)
Picasso: Thanks for the Jeep vid. I don't mind the robot: he rides better.
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Car Designer 10:38AM (2/28/2007)
once again a horrible article from the dumb asses at AB. Jeep's commercial is pretty bad...and so is this one. Perhaps consistant criticism will give you more credibility. This just screams import love vs. domestic bashing, an ever so hot topic...try being a bit more subjective.
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BLS 9:41AM (2/28/2007)
Yep. That is about a 1000X better than the Jeep commercial. I don't see people complaining about ever car comercial for a compact car being the same. All of them drive past the gas station. They don't fill up, they throw some garbage away. Clever.
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rvr 10:57AM (2/28/2007)
as another longtime skateboarder i agree that this commercial is much better than the jeep commercial. the crappiness of the jeep aside (butt-ugly car), the execution of the spot is simply better. here's what it comes down to for me: the jeep commercial looked like ad agency people who thought they knew what would be "cool" and what would appeal to "youth", and then they tried really hard. it's cartoony and kind of goofy--not the worst commercial i've seen, but kind of lame. this spot looks like an ad agency with an art director who maybe really is a skater, or is young, or they talked to skateboarders. then they hired a skateboarder and filmed him. they weren't trying to figure out what would look "cool" to the "youth", they actually had a cool idea, and executed it in a very simple, direct fashion.
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Patrick 10:33AM (2/28/2007)
To sum up, no new thinking, just better execution of the idea. Appears to be a nice SUV, Nissan should have kept the name a bit simpler. Maybe it is a derivative of their hopes that this vehicle will become a "cash cow".
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Matthew 12:14PM (2/28/2007)
I think it comes down to authenticity. The way the robot skates in the Jeep commercial doesn't really capture the things that made skateboarding enjoyable for the intended audience.
The people who made that ad never rode a skateboard, or never even played THPS (unlike most of their audience) and it shows. Their clueless creative is not going to resonate with the target audience in the same way the Nissan ad does, which creates that sense of authenticity and trust by showing that A - they know how skateboarding really works and B - they know the tricks that really helped people feel they were becoming a good skateboarder. The ad is a litany of all the tricks that younger skateboarders over the last 10-15 years associated with real accomplishment - kickflips over gaps, wall-rides, nollies up steps, etc. Not really hard tricks, but tricks that showed that you were 'getting it'.
This ad says to the target audience: We really understand you, and we also really understand the kinds of things that gave you a sense of accomplishment when you were a bit younger, and our product offering will replicate those emotional connections. The creative is great, an really drives this home.
The difference between the two ads is so great it almost makes me wonder whether the jeep ad actually had a creative brief, or whether somebody just said "Do something with skateboarding, all them kids they like skateboarding these days, don't they? And add a robot, they all like robots too, right? Robots on skateboards - sheeet, they'll lap it up!"
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What do I know? 12:53PM (2/28/2007)
So...it's clear that the Nissan commercial was aimed at skateboarders; while the Jeep commercial was for those who drive automobiles.
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rdm 2:24PM (2/28/2007)
WAY COOL, DUDE!
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