Couldn't have said it better myself

Check out this post by Dave Tutin about the current state of automobile advertising.

Dave is a creative director I had the pleasure of working with at Grey for several years. He is smart and talented and a bit of a Renaissance man, so when faced with the choice to stay in the ad biz or get the hell out, he chose the latter. He now lives in a beautiful house in Santa Fe with his lovely wife, and writes songs all day (as near as I can tell!)

I agree with Dave's POV about the gratuitous use of violence and speeding in car ads, and the message that these ads are sending.

I'll go one further, though. In the Mercedes spot that Dave writes about, the car is the character, you don't see the driver. There is no person to identify with and the experience is not personalized. It could almost be the video game fantasy that Dave refers to.

But what about when you do see the driver? Take a look at this Lexus commercial for their 2010 IS line of cars:



These cars are speeding through city streets... looks like Los Angeles to me. In New York, the local speed limit on most city streets is 30mph, and I don't think Los Angeles is much different.

These cars are going a lot faster than 30mph. Even if in actual fact they are not, they have been filmed to appear as if they are, which is essentially the same thing. The tires are spinning, leaving rubber, the back ends fishtailing as the drivers round corners at excessive speeds.

It's not like this city is deserted. You can easily see people on the sidewalk. And the drivers are screaming, screaming with the orgasmic thrill of piloting their vehicles dangerously and recklessly through the intersections and crosswalks.

Here now, are actual drivers, real people that the viewer can identify with. "Hmmm, they're having fun. Maybe I should buy a Lexus."

Here's another brilliant ad:



In this one, a Mustang GT peels out and leaves rubber, just like the start of a drag race. The car comes to a halt, we cut to the interior where a father turns to his son and sternly lays down the law "Now that's what I'm talking about," he says. "This is not a toy."

Great, here's a dad teaching his kid about responsible driving. The kid nods seriously.

Then the dad smiles conspiratorially and says "Wanna go again?" And off they go in a cloud of smoke and rubber, leaving all that responsibility and common sense in the dust. And a big bold graphic and voice over tell us about bold moves that happen everyday.

This is bold? Noooo, this is stupid. Anyone who buys this car for his kid has got to know that at one time or another, the kid is going to drive exactly like this. This dad goes so far as to teach his kid how to do it, then tell him not to, then wink and let him know that it's really OK.

"Oh, but they're in a deserted parking lot," you say. "There's no one around. No one will get hurt." Doesn't matter. The lesson is the same. The lesson is that it's cool to drive like this. And as soon as the father gets out of the car, the kid is going to pick up a bunch of his buddies and head down to the local strip to show off his new toy.

Oooh, maybe they'll pick up some beers on the way.