Ironic Commercials

Started by LongBlade, August 24, 2015, 12:35:40 PM

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LongBlade

The marketing outfits that commission and produce commercials are highly paid to deliver a specific message to a specific target market.

If they're good the consumer is made aware of (or reminded) of a product which potentially meets a need.

Most of the time those messages are pretty mundane - you forget them moments after they're over.

Once in a while they score hugely and become part of the culture, at least briefly (Where's the beef?).

And once in a while they fail on an epic scale.

One of those epic fails has been on TV all summer and I just saw another airing of it and decided to point it out. Given time more will show up (and I know of a few historic examples that I can share if folks are interested).

Anyway, most of you have probably seen the GMC commercial for its trucks entitle Precision Matters:



At first glance it's got everything it takes to make a first class commercial - Great theme (precision matters, implying quality), sexy looks, awesome comparison to world-class baseball pitchers, and superb music.

Ah, but the music. Yes, The Who is brilliant. The music from the commercial is from the first album I bought of The Who. Epic stuff.

One problem - I remember the lyrics. Worse? The commercial plays those lyrics.

The song: Eminence Front.

What's that mean? Eminence is a protrusion, of something put forward. In the context of The Who's song it's part of a message:

QuoteThe sun shines, and people forget
The spray flies as the speedboat glides
And people forget, forget they're hiding

The girls smile, and people forget
The snow packs as the skier tracks
People forget, forget they're hiding

Behind an eminence front
Eminence front, it's a put on
It's an eminence front
It's an eminence front, it's a put on

(lyrics from http://www.metrolyrics.com/eminence-front-lyrics-who.html)

For folks not familiar with American slang, a "put on" can mean several things, but in this particular case it means one thing: a deception.

In other words, the GMC commercial is bragging about its precision and quality, but playing music which clearly underscores that the slick message is false and hides something.

I'm not sure who conceived that commercial or approved it, but were I GMC's marketing dude I'd be asking WTF they're doing.  :idiot2:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Centurion40

Any time is a good time for pie.