GM’s Chevrolet division is turning to "creative types outside its agency roster" for one of its five Super Bowl XLVI ads, teaming with Mofilm, one of "many companies that specialize in crowdsourcing exercises to develop ideas for ads,” according to Stuart Elliott of the N.Y. TIMES. The spot that will air during NBC's coverage of the Super Bowl “will be created and produced by consumers, with no polishing” from Chevrolet’s agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, S.F. The contest was formally announced today at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France. Filmmakers “from around the world are being asked” to create “shorts that capture the spirit of road trips.” The contest is being called the “Chevrolet Route 66 initiative,” after the American highway and the ‘60s TV show “Route 66.” GM Global CMO Joel Ewanick said the contest will be global because “from Brazil to Moscow to China, Chevrolet has a pretty strong following.” Ewanick said Goodby, Silverstein & Partners “doesn’t have any issues” with the campaign. Elliott reported contest entrants “can use any kind of Chevrolet for the films they make,” and the video clips “must be submitted by Dec. 1.” Ewanick said that the public “will get to vote on which film is the best and deserves to be shown” during Super Bowl XLVI. But he added, “The final say will be mine” (
NYTIMES.com, 6/21).
