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Are TV ads getting more and more stupid/inane?
French car maker ad: Woman opens hatchback of her car and there's a dog in there. She then holds out a piece of raw steak for the dog to lick! How is that, in any way, selling the car?
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Well, you remembered the ad, and you're now talking to other people about it. Job done! 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Richard Deeming wrote: Job done!
Well not really. Yes, I remember the ad and the car company. Would I ever buy a car from them? Absolutely and most definitely NOT. Without this ad, I wouldn't have ruled them out - but now I just see a company run by people too stupid to realise they have been conned by their ad agency.
Credit to the spaced out, (see OG reply below), ad guys. They found themselves a sucker. They are almost certainly laughing so much, they're peeing themselves. Wonder if they have any jobs!
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But did you remember the car brand?
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Well, they aren't allowed to say it's fast, or exciting, or ... well anything really that might make people want to buy it. So "stupid" is the way to go. Makes it "memorable" - you remember which car company it was, don't you? 
Plus it's a load easier for the ad company, since they are generally dumb or drugged to the eyeballs anyway.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: Well, they aren't allowed to say it's fast, or exciting,
Really?
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Absolutely: Motoring - ASA | CAP[^] - certainly in the UK.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Sometimes the UK baffle me.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Sometimes the UK government baffles me as well ...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: Sometimes the UK governments baffles me as well ...
FTFY because it's not like they are any less insane elsewhere in the world.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
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See my reply to Richard, above. 
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OriginalGriff wrote: they aren't allowed to say it's fast, or exciting
Dangerous words, those. I once described a lady that way. My wife was not amused...
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I think they're selling an experience rather than a car.
They just want to show you that people with that particular car are happy people.
Or maybe they're targeting dog owners specifically.
Most ads are like that.
You might just be the stupid one for failing to see that and thinking a car ad needs to target you specifically with car specifics (that would be a very bad ad as most people don't have a clue about car specifics).
Good thing you're not in marketing 
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Sander Rossel wrote: Good thing you're not in marketing
You are probably right. I look at things far too logically. I'd be creating ads that aim to sell as many cars as possible, to the widest possible group. 
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I'm assuming this car company or marketing agency did some testing and people were more inclined to buy the car with feel-good ads than they were with technical ads.
So it'd be logical to air feel-good ads, ignoring their personal views on the matter.
Thinking I like technical ads so I'm going to air technical ads is not the logical thing to do and does not sell as many cars as possible to the widest group possible (unless maybe you're airing the ad on CodeProject where we're into the technical stuff).
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Cars today are all the same - truly, not figuratively. There are a few platforms developed by joint groups and then sold as different models with different features, but they're all external features usually pertaining to ADAS packages, infotainment and comfort. The engines... well they tend to be used for one or two decades in many, many, many models. My 2018 Fiat Tipo has the same engine of a 1998 Fiat Bravo, thank the gods because it's a freaking good engine.
I wanted to buy an Opel Corsa, which shares the same engine with several Peugeot, Renault, Citroen and even some Fiat models. When I had reliable informations about the unreliability of that engine I had to cross out half of the shortlist of potential models.
All this ramblings to say that you can't push on technical details anymore to sell cars, because otherwise you'd have 3 adverts for two dozens of models. Also nobody would buy an SUV with a 1 liter engine, unless you willfully gloss over it and try to sell the paint, the seats, the radio, the dog, the sky...
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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den2k88 wrote: Fiat
Let me decode that for you: Fehler In Allen Teilen
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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My experience with FIAT so far has been quite good, I started with a 1998's Seicento which was old, travelled and unmaintainded. It was an entry level car paid 300€ but I did make a relocation with that box. I moved to a 2003's Fiat Punto inherited by granddad and its main issues were the dozen crashes he had, a crash I had and a lot of exterior damage that was generously gifted by a plethora of idiots. Only the lack of ABS and the internal noise are bad.
Now I have this low mileage Tipo and it's a dream to drive, it's also quite fuel efficient with LPG - not so much with gas, as it has the same exact fuel consumption with either one of them, while my punto is 1.5 times more efficient with gas than with LPG.
Also my dad works in a FIAT reseller and has been a mechanic for 40 years, mainly on FIAT because well, we are in Italy, so I have quick and cheap dignaosis and fixes.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Sander Rossel wrote: people were more inclined to buy the car with feel-good ads
I am still struggling to understand how feeding raw meat to a dog in the boot/trunk of a car is "feel good" and going to convince anyone to buy that car! 
If I have to choose between:
a) The Marketing Agency did any market research/testing.
b) They are taking the pee - and the money!
I'm going with (b)
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What do you expect? A marketing team made up of millenials is making ads to get other millenials to buy a car that has been designed for millenials. You might as well try to make sense an ad made for little furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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I'm picturing her dressed as a dominatrix, then it makes sense.
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This is one of a series of several equally inane ads. Have you looked at the car? That might explain why they don't focus on it too much!
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You'd be amazed at what sells cars. Years ago when the SUV market exploded in the USA, the #1 selling point for these vehicles (back then they were ~30K USD) was the size of the cup holders. Yeah, blew my mind too.
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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5teveH wrote: TV ads
How's anyone still putting up with those, in this day and age?
The last time I watched anything on live broadcast TV was the federal election debates we had here in Canada in 2006 (and those don't have ads) - before they were available as online streams. Before that? I honestly don't remember.
That's not to say I haven't seen TV ads in other contexts - at friend's places, for example, where the TV happened to be on. And based on what I've seen, the situation hasn't improved...
You have to put value on your time, especially what little time you may have available to spend watching TV. It makes no sense to me to take a full hour to watch a show that really only lasts 40 to 42 minutes (including intro and end credits).
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Long before there was a digital headache from debugging while staring at the computer screen there was the migraine contracted from watching the television. If I recall correctly, and this is even occuring before any sports commentator has left his dental imprint in the backside of a cohabitating companion, the stupididity of advertising could be sampled wafting up and from within the tiny twists and turns of the delicate little kibble-colored earphone attached to the spring terminals of one's Heathkit crystal radio ... in the form of the "Only You can Prevent Forest Fires".
Why exactly? Because reading books like "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" is educational? Or that once read, riding the bus to school, in the case of a mis-flown paper airplane where the wingtip slices Paula's eye and it starts to bleed, the kid waking up in back of her will be able to render first aid because of ... the ... uhm ... thing.
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