What's with Avis' depiction of a Saab as a jilted [male] lover in this version of "Your Other Car" ad campaign? Any pistonhead worth his TTAC bookmark will immediately clock the cuckold as a "classic" Saab 900, produced from 1978 – 1993. (Anyone recognize the locale?) While that makes the ad's "star" a pre-GM model (in development terms), Avis rents GM products. The old Saab's design is not that different than the current models. And if they aren't similar looking enough for instant identification, they should be; when GM killed the hatch, they killed Saab. I digress. My main point: why didn't Avis choose a more generic, non-GM car for this diss, as they do for the other ads in the series? And why didn't Saab's brand managers protect the brand's heritage? What else have they got?
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There used to an ad about getting old unsafe cars off the road sponsored by an insurance company (Allstate perhaps?). The ad featured a somewhat battered Studebaker Lark convertible, apparently because there was no one around to defend the make.
On TV sitcoms there used to be a lot of jokes about Yugos (of which there was no one was around to defend), but there were also a few about Vegas and Chevettes (of which GM could not defend). I think the jokes disappeared at about the same rate that the cars disappeared from the roads.
Maybe you’re taking it a tad too seriously there, RF. I haven’t met a Saab person yet who’s seen this ad and didn’t like it. All in fun.
Heh heh sounds like the Borman6 grousing about its successor.
I think the Saab in Sideways is a million times more destructive to the brand’s perception, (and great car-casting as well.)
Because old SAABs have the best personality! Which is what the ad is all about, what personality would a generic non-GM car have? Trollhatten Saab is right, it’s all in good fun.
In general, “classic” 900 Saabs are very overrepresented in ads, TV shows, and movies. I’ll go out on a limb and guess it might be because these cars are popular with the creative types who come up with this stuff.
With an ad or marketing strategy like this, somebody or some brand has to get hit.
I suppose you would pick on an out of the market, unrecognized brand.
I would pick on Fiat or any Asian brand like Proton or Tata.
Trollhatten Saab: Maybe you’re taking it a tad too seriously there, RF. I haven’t met a Saab person yet who’s seen this ad and didn’t like it. All in fun. I am surprised that you, of all people, don’t see and decry the sacrilege and brand betrayal here. This ad pisses on the Saab from a great height, telling the world that Saab is a has-been. Even if that's true (a debate for another time), you don't allow your "friends" to do this to you. It reminds me of some Brits, who insult you and then say "just kidding, mate." While one can argue there’s no such thing as bad publicity, there is.
So much in life is described by the Bell Curve, and this commercial falls well over to the left side. My reaction was “Did Garmin and Avis split the cost of this ad? They should, because it promotes the Garmin brand as much as Avis.”
Worse, most of the commercial is devoted to a confusing narrative about the Saab’s hurt feelings over being left behind again. We’re supposed to care about a car’s emotional state? I’m more upset that the guy walked off without his coffee.
Avis should have told the ad agency, “Look, the message is supposed to be ‘RENT FROM AVIS because it has nifty GPS devices that keep you from getting lost.’ Go back to the drawing board and try again.”
I think the locale is SFO airport. It may be the new rental car lot or another lot nearby just north of the airport.
What is the significance of the contemporaries of the Saab in the ad? (VW Vanagon, Toyota van (pre-Previa), Volvo 240) – other older jilted cars? Cars, like the Vega, Yugo, and Lark, that are no longer around/no longer defended?
My cars don’t feel jilted when I go on my business trips. After my usual rental car, I am almost always happy to get back into whichever of my cars I drove to the airport. And yes, one is a contemporary of the 900. And I bought a Nuvi instead of renting one.
As a policeman friend once remarked, old Saab 900s don’t die, they get used to for ram raids because they’re one of the few cars that criminals can rely on to still be drivable after they’ve reversed it through a plate glass window…
Got to love that Swedish reliability!
My main point: why didn’t Avis choose a more generic, non-GM car for this diss, as they do for the other ads in the series?
If anyone should get upset over these ads, it should be Honda. There are three other ads in the series, two of which also use GM cars. One shows a snow-covered Buick LeSabre whining about a red CTS and one shows a Chevy Venture crying in the rain about a Hummer.
The only one showing non-GM products uses an Acura Integra feeling jilted because of a redundantly-stated “Prius hybrid.” You have to wonder why they didn’t use an older Camry or Corolla instead of dissing Honda. Unless, of course, it was because they didn’t want to risk pissing off Toyota in fear of not getting any more Priora for the fleet.
We had at its peak, 5 Saab 900’s. 2 are reportedly still in operation and were sold in operrating condition after the odometers expired well past 200,000.
I can see why the smash perp’s like them.
My take on the advertisement is that Avis is admitting the GM fleet cars are boring and have no personality. Ever talk to crossover?
The current Saabs may resemble the classic 900 from a distance, but after test driving some, I’d be careful about driving through an opening ribbon in one.
Farago: I am surprised that you, of all people, don’t see and decry the sacrilege and brand betrayal here. This ad pisses on the Saab from a great height, telling the world that Saab is a has-been. Even if that’s true (a debate for another time), you don’t allow your “friends” to do this to you. It reminds me of some Brits, who insult you and then say “just kidding, mate.”
We Aussies are descended from the Brits, you know. We’re reputedly the worst of them, in fact.
It’s much ado about nothing, RF. The newest C900 is fifteen years old now and the oldest is 29 years old. There’s no brand betrayal in posing it as a faithful old servant with a relationship to it’s owner.
I think most C900 apprecaitors, the vast majority, would see this ad as quaint and the guy in the ad as a bit of an idiot for not choosing to drive it.
I put this whole post down to it being a slow news weekend.
Just kidding, mate.
Funny thing about Avis is that while I know they rent GM primarily, I’ve been getting a lot of non-GM product lately.
Pontiac Torrent
Chevy Impala
Chevy Trailbalzer
Mercury Mariner
Mercury Mariner (1st gen body style)
Ford Taurus
Mitsubishi Galant
This is across the country (CA, NV, HI, MN, PA, OH), and there is no particularl common thread to my rentals other then I want large sedans or midsize SUV’s when available.
Could be a fluke, but half of my recent rentals have been non-GM.
Oh, and the claim that the Saab 900’s design isn’t that different from current models – that dog won’t hunt. There are one or two common design cues, but that’s about it.
What’s the classic profile for a Saab 900? It’s the three-door hatch – a configuration that’s not present in any Saab today and hasn’t been for 5 years or so, much to the enthusiasts’ chagrin.
Combine this with “hate” in the headline (OTT IMHO) and I’d definitely write this off to a slow news day.
I’m with Frank,
The strange part of the Avis diss on the Integra is that I would bet 95% of drivers (on this forum at least) would rather be driving a ‘teg than a Prius.
Tells you about their demographic, I guess.
In another TV commercial I saw this weekend, Avis also disses the Acura Integra of the 94-97 era, with the female driver smitten by the Prius she had rented while away for a few days.
Don’t forget another ad in this series: the Chevy minivan left behind for a Hummer.
It’s the top floor short-term parking deck at SFO. I used to park there before BART was extended to the airport.
I actually like this ad because it disses the Saab, meaning there will be more available on the market this fall for me to pick up as my winter beater.
Its actually on the roof of the AVIS rent a car garage at Newark Airport, near AVIS’ headquarters in Parsippany, NJ.