Super Bowl Ads: Automakers Emphasize Practicality Over Vanity

Watch Audi's "Green Police" Teaser

There are six automakers airing ads during Super Bowl XLIV, and the majority of the spots "aimed at recession-weary buyers accelerate practicality and put the breaks on vanity," according to Chris Woodyard of USA TODAY. The majority of the brands advertising during the game are "decidedly mainstream," with Audi being the only "upscale brand" taking part. However, even they "will feature a less-fancy product this year." Auto marketing consultant Gordon Wangers: "It ain't business as usual, and a cute ad won't work." Wangers added the challenge is for advertisers to "make a meaningful message and not be boring." Woodyard reports Audi is using "humor to underscore the fuel-saving virtues of its compact A3 TDI diesel sedan," while an animated ad from Honda "humorously demonstrates the new Accord Crossover hatch-back's roominess." Chrysler Senior VP/Communications Gualberto Ranieri said that the company's Dodge brand will "showcase the Dodge Charger R/T to show it has 'real driving vehicles with muscle car power and sports car handling.'" Honda, Kia and Volkswagen also are set to air ads. Woodyard notes Toyota, which is "currently under fire over safety recalls," said that it did not buy any Super Bowl ad time "because it is between product introductions" (USA TODAY, 2/4).

FOCUSING OFF THE ROAD: MARKETING DAILY's Karl Greenberg notes Audi's ad, via Venables Bell & Partners, "doesn't give away the fact that the spot is a car ad until the very end, when a guy driving the car is allowed through a Green Police highway checkpoint because he's driving an A3 clean-diesel car." Audi of America CMO Scott Keogh said that "not giving away that it's a car ad until the end is important in a Super Bowl buy." Keogh: "We think that's crucial because in the Super Bowl, the instant consumers read that it's a car ad, the mind turns off and it's into the nachos. This draws them in." Keogh added that a "more humorous approach also makes sense" during the Super Bowl. Keogh: "You need to bring humor into the mix, and we hadn't done that before. But we thought this was the perfect environment and opportunity" (MARKETING DAILY, 2/4 issue).

Watch Honda's Animated Super Bowl Spot

A BUNCH OF CHARACTERS: MARKETING DAILY's Greenberg reports Kia, which has "taken a more humorous approach to advertising than its corporate sibling" Hyundai, has "backseat passengers fantasizing about a joy ride in which they have control of the vehicle" in its ad. However, the passengers are "little character toys ... owned by a child who keeps them in the back seat for company." In the ad, the characters' adventure "starts in a bowling alley, ... moves on to jet-skiing, riding a mechanical bull in a bar, sitting in a jacuzzi with a beautiful blond, going to Vegas and dancing with other girls." It is "set to a James Brown-like soundtrack by a group called 'The Heavy.'" Meanwhile, Honda's ad is set to Kool & the Gang's "Funky Stuff" and features a "squirrel trying to fit an assortment of large items." He opts for the Honda Accord Crossover "rather than his tree." Honda will "run the ad in an MSN home-page takeover this weekend and in a Fox Sports home-page roadblock on Sunday," and will have "pole position on YouTube's masthead on Monday" (MARKETING DAILY, 2/4 issue).

GOING REGIONAL? Toyota Motor Sales National Manager for Business & Field Communications Celeste Migliore said that while the company is "too late for a national Super Bowl ad buy" due to CBS selling out its inventory earlier this week, there are "discussions by Toyota's regional dealerships about buying local Super Bowl spots to target customers having problems." A TV ad buyer said that while no company "wants to be seen to be taking advantage of" Toyota's current well-documented troubles, the company that can "act quickly to take advantage of a changed marketplace would win out" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 2/3).