BMW and Chevrolet have posted advertisements about the i3 and Volt. BMW’s ad will be shown during the Super Bowl. Chevrolet’s ad is on YouTube. What are your thoughts on these two approaches? Comments please. In addition, I’ve added some other plug-in vehicle commercials, including the controversial ELR commercial, shown during last year’s Super Bowl. The older Volt commercials showed that Chevy was trying to explaining their previous ad efforts.
Chevy Volt:
BMW i3:
2012 Chevy Volt commercial
Probably my favorite Volt commercial so far
Cadillac ELR (1st commercial)
Kia Soul EV
Nissan Leaf
Volkswagen e-Golf (even though it’s in German, you’ll get it)
BMW i8 (odd they would focus on exhaust noise…)
Another 2012 Chevy Volt commercial
BMW even posted some outtakes from the i3 shoot!
At this point, I’d use the you tube ads for the Volt. The Super Bowl’s ad price is too high, and if the ad is deemed to be a flop or stupid, then the resulting PR could be damaging.
And to spend that much money on two washed up news people as spokemen, not smart.
I feel that both of these commercials are great for their respective cars and EVs in general! BMW took the approach of pointing out how new ideas are often confusing but then become commonplace in our lives. It was a good way to show that change is not bad. Chevy seems to have taken the approach of showcasing that the Volt is just as versatile as any other car. It can do highway speeds, climb mountains, go on back roads or in the city, etc. I don’t think either commercial can really stand on its own though. BMW fails to point out what the actual specific benefits are of an EV and just pretty much alludes to the fact that they will one day be commonplace. Chevy fails to mention much about the car at all though it does briefly show the battery and the Volt logo. Overall I think both ads, coupled with appropriate other ads and proper education from dealerships/current owners will help out sales of these vehicles.
We have a Volt and while we love it and plan on buying them in the future it would really be nice if the car a bit more pizzazz in styling. Then the commercials could use that style to subliminally catch the eye and focus on the dash fuel savings information, as they pass gas station after gas station. Perhaps highway markers showing decreasing mileage to the final destination, with a flash back to that 300 mpg at the very end.
The other commercial if far more memorable but I actually don’t remember what brand it was and I just saw it.
Volt ad is definitely better, shows the EREV can take you anywhere you want to go and for any duration of time. Wish there was some narrative. Non EV, PHEV or EREV car drivers won’t pick up any benefits.
The styling looks nice in motion and feels more like the v1 than I felt before.
BMW ad, don’t get it at all, shows two ignorant behind the times TV personalities. Who cares.
Kirk:
The ad agency got these two on “clearance” pricing kinda like when lettuce at the grower store has been on the shelf too long.
But I wonder if the agency is trying to get more “old timers” like me turning their heads to the TV if and when they hear Bryant Gumble and Katy? I would certainly be lost on an ad if they featured “name of young and influential talent here” and now I know why my mom in the early 70s thought Steppenwolf was something out in the back pasture, not to get you shoe in.
I love that new commercial for the 2016 Volt!
This story is so hard to tell to some people and I’m not one of them, but this music works for this old man (who has bought two Volts already… and eagerly looking forward to the “Bolt…”
(Cool website too Buzz…)
The Volt commercial does nothing to educate the public about its advantages (cheaper to fuel, no maintenance costs) or to dispel fears about plug in cars (range, etc.). Barney Fife won’t buy one until he is educated.
Today is 2/5/15, and I have seen the BMW i3 ad half a dozen times today on MSNBC. I have seen a Leaf ad a few times in the past. I don’t recall ever seeing a Volt ad on TV.
BMW is leading the way in EV advertising. Let’s hope other manufacturers follow.