Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Hatchbacks, GM, Saturn
Seriously? Kiss my Astra?
Click the image above for a high-res view.
Need a new car? If you're the Saturn Astra is on your shopping list, be wary of saliva spots... and while you're at it, pucker up. GM is running a Saturn "Kiss My Astra" contest, in which entrants are directed to capture their adventures in Saturn smooching on camera and upload them to the I M Saturn website. There, the online community of Saturn fans (we know, we were surprised, too) will judge the photos and declare a winner in September. The prize is a Saturn Astra XR. You're free to make out with any Astra you like, even your neighbor's, though you might officially become the neighborhood weirdo if people catch you locking lips with their ride. GM's Bob Lutz demonstrates his man-car love technique in the enclosed galery. Somebody turn a hose on this guy.
Gallery: Kiss My Saturn Astra
[Source: Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Cyx 9:23AM (7/20/2008)
But the bodywork is not very clean,It would cause illness if you had kiss,maybe...
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Kitko 10:14AM (7/20/2008)
Should have come with a Health and Safety warning and limited liability notion.
MachinaDC5 9:27AM (7/20/2008)
Catchy, but I don't think I'd want to be the guy on the block getting his car kissed seven times a day. But then again....
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Torrent 1:58PM (7/20/2008)
You know what, GM? You can kiss my Ass(tra).
ROFL! J/K! I love GM. But this "Kiss my Astra" contest is a little dumb, although I'd do it. Too bad I don't wanna.
Js 10:16AM (7/20/2008)
Hmmm.. does it count if you kiss an Opel Astra ? I'm on vacation in Europe atm and there are plenty of them on every street corner...but no Saturn in sight.. lol.
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ML 11:06AM (7/20/2008)
Uh...hello Js...Opel (Europe) IS Saturn in the U.S. Go ahead and plant a big one and see what the Politzei do.
paul34 12:59PM (7/20/2008)
Dear ML,
It appears you have much to learn about basic reading comprehension. Obviously Js knows the Opel he is referring to is the Saturn Astra.
brian hague 10:20AM (7/20/2008)
Very poor taste... I think GM is trying to kill Saturn after all...
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rick_T 10:26AM (7/20/2008)
If i catch someone kissing my car, blood will be spilled. I really like my astra, but not enough to kiss it. Caress it, stroke it, clean it every once in a while, but thats as far as she goes.
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MajorGeek 10:34AM (7/20/2008)
Very poor taste, the people who decided to do this should all be fired and the marketing team, if outsourced, dropped. Being that a lot of Saturns are family oriented cars, this is one of the stupidest things I have heard in some time and that is some feat from a car company. Bob Lutz should be on the top of idiots ashamed of themselves, if he was 14 years old, it might be understandable. Shame on you Bob. Im sure The Alliance for Science Technology Research in America is considering a new name.
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ML 11:42AM (7/20/2008)
This probably could have been an embarrassment to GM. Some photographer caught Lutz in heat over a Saturn, and - to save face and keep the photo from exposing him - GM told their ad agency to come up with a gimic to give credibility to what could have been hard to explain. I mean, it's bad enough for an employee to do something like this. But one of General Motor's most visual executives? My, 'how the mighty have fallen'(!).
MajorGeek 11:47AM (7/20/2008)
Agreed and I am a backer of GM and their upcoming products, even on the list of someone seriously wanting a Volt. Doubt this will change my mind, but I hope they reconsider their marketing. People love their cars and sex can is often subtly (and not so) used in marketing, but this takes it to a point that is bit disturbing. Thanks to the internet were aware of strange people who "love" their cars and other inanimate objects, perhaps GM was unaware of these people?
paul34 1:00PM (7/20/2008)
Prudish much? Wow. This is why the US is so far behind other countries, culturally.
Snark 1:47PM (7/20/2008)
Oh, grow up. Prudes. It's a funny play on words, not a threat to the innocence of our children or something. America's becoming a nation of grandmas.
EJNelly 1:49PM (7/20/2008)
+1000 to paul34
MajorGeek 3:30PM (7/20/2008)
Im not a prude, I am far from it, however I odnt want to see Kiss My Astra billboards and commercials and the like. I think its quite obvious what it means and not something to market towards kids, thats all. Of course, my kids are grown up. I realize were different here in the states, but our women like to shave their underarms and wash their hair daily as well.
":prude (prd) n.
One who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous.
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MajorGeek 3:35PM (7/20/2008)
1 final comment, a guess here is some jackass at GM saw the Subaru commercials and did not get it. If you have seen a Subaru commercial and know a Subaru owner, YOU understood it.
ML 10:42AM (7/20/2008)
I'd kiss one of these (no, not a GM exec...) if it had a more powerful engine. Heck, I'd even BUY one 'cause I think it's a nice looking car . . . just not nice enough to kiss however(!).
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Avinash machado 10:49AM (7/20/2008)
I guess the Astra has not met its sales target, if they need to resort to such gimmicks.
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justin 7:15PM (7/20/2008)
I like the Astra, except for it's fuel economy. Get the economy of a civic and get back to me, COME ON!