I'm really diggin' the AVIS spots

It seems that AVIS rental cars kicked off one of the funniest campaigns in years immediately after their stock tumbled. Maybe the ads have been airing prior to the crash, but I only started to see them recently. Either way it's got to be tough to differentiate yourself among rental car companies. At the end of the day, who really cares about their rental car? For the average annual or semiannual vacationer I find it hard to believe that anyone cares about the car. I know from experience, price is my only concern.

However, AVIS decided to solely focus on their core competencies...business travelers. Their TV spots feature a boring, sad, long term parking lot with an ugly late model 90's car. The VO is from the car's POV and imitates a sad, lonely wife whose husband is out "traveling" but in reality, cheating on her. The copy is perfect and the visual works beautifully. It's funny, easy to get, and clearly makes you think AVIS is hot, young, and exciting. I cannot think of another way to get that point across without insulting the audience. Bravo AVIS, Bravo.

Why GM Cadi-lacks Cool

In case you haven't seen the new 'swanky' Cadillac TV spots let me provide a critical summary. The commercial opens with some person driving and speaking to the non-existent audience/passenger. The soliloquy's try way too hard to be cool, sexy and sarcastic. "In today's luxury game, the question isn't whether or not your car has available features like a 40 gig hard drive...or pop-up navigation etc..." Then, with a down shift and copy like "when you turn your car on, does it return the favor?" the commercial 'kicks in' the ill fitting, over dramatized hard rock music and drives all the way to the cheese factory. (Probably in 3rd gear) The reason this ad is so unbelivably lame is because it appeals to no one. In an attempt to appeal to too many dems, it falls incredibly short. I read an article explaining how Cadillac's new campaign was heavily rooted in market research. This may be true but read the endless list of demographics this ad hopes to reach are...• Loyalists – those who already own Cadillac’s • Boomers – the group turning 60 who really don’t like Cadillac • Alphas’ – tech types who search for information • Hot Moms – not your prototypical soccer mom • Move Ups -- young adults without preconceived ideas. I understand all the listed demographics are highly sought after, but you cannot use the same ad on 'Alphas' as you do on 'Hot Moms' and 'Boomers.' BABY BOOMERS and ALPHAS in the same 30 seconds???? That is an utter paradox. In their attempt to be 'hip' Cadillac really misses the mark. The ad needs a 'hip replacement' along with their boomer demographic. I am not sure where they are steering the brand, but I know it's the wrong direction.