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Mercedes: Reckless Driving Is Smarter
Here's a particularly egregious bit of "open road" propaganda from Mercedes. In this ad, currently airing in US markets, a new Benz GLK whips through the narrow streets of what appears to be a small European village, the inhabitants of which are reduced to slo-mo scenery.
February 23, 2009
IBM Pitches Congestion Pricing to Middle America
This IBM ad, now airing during NFL playoff games, is definitely aimed at the motoring set. More remarkable than its windshield perspective, though, is that it's being used to introduce the concept of congestion pricing to sports-obsessed Americans, and it doesn't get more mainstream than that.
January 13, 2009
Buy One Albatross, Get One Free!
Detroit's customer incentives have had an air of desperation for a while. With Big Three bankruptcy looking more likely every day, some dealers -- like this one in Pembroke Pines, Florida -- are venturing into liquidation sale territory (and then some).
November 21, 2008
Ad Nauseam: Spare the Toll, Save the Carmaker
Yesterday we noted the auto-centric bias in local media coverage of an expected Ravitch Commission proposal to toll East River bridges as one source of revenue for the cash-strapped MTA. In perusing said coverage, we couldn't help but notice a second common element. See if you can guess what it is.
November 11, 2008
Ped-Bike Mockery Flops for 7-Term House Incumbent
The National Republican Congressional Committee ran this ad against Democratic challenger Kathy Dahlkemper in the race for Pennsylvania's third congressional district. It hits a few Gingrichian notes on how to address the country's energy problems before the announcer tells us incredulously:
November 5, 2008
Cartoon Tuesday: Cycling = Healthy, Pt. 2
Here's another installment in the "cycling is good for you" series, this time from New York insurer Emblem Health. In this animated ad, a Brooklyn bike commuter pedals across a bridge toward Manhattan, explaining that cycling affords him the same freedom he enjoys from his health care coverage. And to further identify with the target demo, there's even a little modal conflict at the end.
October 21, 2008
Kaiser Permanente: Cycling = Healthy
With a dreary weekend on tap, weather-wise, we leave you with this uplifting ad from health care giant Kaiser Permanente. While we've seen bikes used to market everything from banks to beer, the linkage of cycling -- and walking, and skateboarding, and transit use -- to physical well-being is especially compelling.
September 26, 2008
Michigan TV Station: Bikes Are Strange. Buy a Chrysler!
Check out this "news of the weird" item from WJRT-TV in Flint, Michigan, on last week's DC bike-share debut:
August 25, 2008
This Just In: The Media Business Is Auto-Dependent Too
Think web sites are saturated with car ads? The internet's got nothing on local TV.
August 8, 2008