Monday, February 3, 2014

Honda takes worst car commercial of 2014 spot, hands down.

Honda’s latest attempt to sell cars to people who know nothing about cars, or don't really want one,  is this weird and very annoying “Today is Pretty Great” spot for the 2014 Civic Coupe. Leave it to Honda – desperate in their attempt to appeal to anxious millennials – to produce a spot that goes out of its way to avoid showing you the actual product.


Now, maybe I’m just being old and crusty here, but where do I start to address everything that’s so absolutely wrong with this thing?

What were they thinking, starting a spot with the Vintage Trouble guy belting out the lyrics, “Today, the world is pretty sad?” Now that’s some brilliant marketing. You should always have your product associated with negatives, right?

As if that isn’t bad enough, the clips that follow include a landfill and a visual reference to bankruptcy. Sure, I want my product to be associated with all of these great things!
According to The Detorit News, the spot originally featured demonstrators outside the Detroit bankruptcy court and caused enough anger in the community that the footage was changed. What, indeed, were they thinking?

Next, couldn’t we feel the breeze in our facial hair, dress in super hero costumes, go parasailing or do  any number of fun things and get there in any other car? Actually, for many of those fun recreational activities shown in the spot, I don’t think a Civic Coupe will cut it. Better off buying a used SUV, kids.
And how many times an hour do I have to have it pounded into my head? This spot will drive buyers away in droves.

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