First, the radio commercial….
The worst thing about this radio commercial for Ford isn’t the criminally inane opening line:
“It’s the Thanksgiving Sell-A-Thon.”
Hint: The opening line of a radio ad is the commercial for the commercial. It’s your one chance to grab the attention of the targeted listener.
And that’s the best they could come up with? That must’ve required a long, exhausting creative meeting. Maybe an all-nighter.
Nor is the worst thing about this radio commercial the banal, totally worthless music bed.
Nor is it the strained voiceover that communicates nothing and speaks to no one.
The worst thing about this radio commercial is this line:
“You may never see an offer like this one again.”
Uh-huh. Please raise your hand if your believe that.
Hint: Try to avoid saying things in your advertising that are laughably false.
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I’ve thought the same thing. I’ve voiced my thoughts and not only have I received my opinions unwelcomed, I’ve been looked at as the one causing additional effort.
I’ve learned that doing the right thing is not always the right thing, when working for someone. That could be another entire blog! “How to work in the environment where they want you to voice copy that are ‘laughably false’.”
Right you are Bobby. I read a series of books once where one of the main characters had a rule. The right thing to do is most often the hardest thing to do.
It may lame, but it still gets your attention. The bed? well how many different formats is it running on?
Up here with often have “your atlantic ford dealers are having a massive truck event” or some other generic tag to open and explain the sale.
At least they put their own stamp on it.
Car ads are like that. You gotta dumb down to the masses. even those yee ha rednecks buy cars.
What I found creepy the other day is I heard a nat running up here in canada that actually used a phrase I love making fun of.
“just in time for the holidays”
it’s a fill line that is trying to emphasize how timely and convenient this sale is.
but you’d think even a redneck can figure out no sale magically appears “just in time for the holidays” LOL!
Absolutely agree with you – that last line is laughable: “You may never see an offer like this one again.”
Claims like this from businesses of every size and stripe are commonplace across the advertising landscape, but perhaps especially so in car dealer advertising on radio and TV.
One wonders: how many people tacitly if not overtly approved this copy before it hit the air? And not a single brave soul willing to stand up and say, We can do better than this!
Sigh.
And as a side note, couldn’t they just say, \There may be some limits to this offer. Your Ford dealer has all the details.\ instead of having 25 seconds of fine print at the end?
If you can’t tell, I’m sick of bad copy and I absolutely HATE disclaimers. The worst are for pharmaceuticals, car dealers, and financial institutions. (I’ve had banks that insist I include the phrase \equal housing lender\ in commercials that have nothing to do with lending.)
Bloody disclaimers