Interestingly: on the same day I learn that a friend who has had several Jeeps for quite a number of years has finally, at long last, gotten rid of the last one because the thing, like its predecessors, was a buggy piece of junk, I see an ad by the Jeep corporation that might actually make people want to buy Jeeps. The ad says little about how good Jeeps are, how rugged, reliable, low-cost, maintenance-free and fuel efficient (according to my friend: none of those); what it does is try to uplift.
Compare and contrast with Gillette’s trainwreck of a campaign which smeared half the population in an attempt to sell that half overpriced bits of sharpened sheet metal. Don’t misunderstand me: Jeep doubtless could care less one way or the other about patriotism, nationalism, American exceptionalism; they just want to sell Jeeps. But *this* ad does that cynical thing in a way that a whole lot of people see as uplifting. It’s also simultaneously simple *and* a little clever. Behold:
Advertising and PR just ain’t my thing (if they were I’d be a *hell* of a lot better off, financially. Seriously: subscribe). This is a “Superbowl ad,” so no matter what, it was destined to be seen by a bunch of people. Whether it was good or bad, interesting or dull, controversial or mundane, I have no idea if that would have sold more Jeeps. But I do know this: this ad has been on YouTube since January 30 and it has been viewed 32 million times, with a like/dislike ratio of more than 11 to one. The Gillette ad, designed from the get-go to “get people talking,” has been on YouTube since January 13 and has been viewed 28 million times, with a like/dislike ratio of 1 to 1.7. Maybe don’t insult your customer base, I dunno.
All that said: I don’t know if this America-loving ad is the best one. It will be hard for anyone to top this Dodge Challenger ad:
The only ad I know of off the top of my head that was better was simple modification of the same ad with better music:
THIS ONE was good. And THIS ONE.