Monday, October 7, 2013

Mad Men and Cars Adverts

There was once a time I actually thought I would get into the world of advertisements, be that creative individual who brought products to life. Before you jump to conclusions and start going "must be a wanna be Don Draper", I would like to add that Mad Men was not made then and it was not for glamor. Turns out I am more functional than creative and looking at the current scene of advertisement that we currently are subjected to makes me glad I didn't go that so assumed "creative" lane.

It was not long ago that you saw commercials both TV and print and chances was you would be entertained, amused and had a feel good factor after watching it. Yeah sure there were those annoying ads which had a voice screaming at you and the balloons shaped people asking you to come down and get the bargain of your life, yes there were even some with men wearing skirts selling flowers and the annoying jingles selling carpets and curtains. Yes, they were still ads that made you cringe but then all of a sudden, you started watching short clips which made you, the consumer, feel like an idiot, it was like all the Ad men really did start thinking of themselves as Don Draper and took everyone including the consumer of the piece they were creating for granted. Some how in the whole realm of things the majority of these ad men seem to have landed up doing jigs for the automobile industry and maybe someone needs to tell the executives in these companies that they are investing their money creating commercials which are putting people off their cars. I have been asking the one question that no one ever seems to answer for me - Does getting a Kia automatically make a guy an asshole who starts to insult the girl he picks up for his first date? Or that car which you miss more than your family when you are stuck on a spaceship in outer space (can I say the way that dude acts, I think it was more of an insult to the spaceship program where ever that was than the actual audience). Or does getting a car of a certain brand , which in this case, is not even yours make you deny its a car but an Alfa Romeo......last I checked lady even an Alfa Romeo had 4 wheels, an engine and a steering wheel and did the same a bloody car does. Then most recently came another gem, which questioned if you in fact were a "yes" man and said yes to your boss, your wife, your work and how about saying No and buying a car....yeah coz in the dramatic financial market, a car is thing to help you with everything considering it depreciates almost 30% as it hits the road from the showroom.

All in all, if you are considering to buy a product and especially if that product happens to be car, don't rely on TV advertisement to sell the best option, it really does seem that the used car salesmen have become wannabe Don Drapers and we are now being subjected to dodgy sales everywhere we look.

Until next time, don't fall prey and keep smiling. :)