Based on these teasers for Dodge’s much-anticipated 60-second Super Bowl ad, we’d have to say they’re still working it out. One thing is for certain: if the point of spinning off the Ram brand was to broaden Dodge’s appeal, the new ad wizards aren’t trying hard enough. The ad above, like most of the latest tranche of Dodge ads, is from the old-school, knuckle-dragging, truck-alike, gender-role-based marketing school. In short, the new Dodge is nothing new…
…which means one thing hasn’t changed: the best reason to buy a Dodge is that the world is probably going to end soon. Because Quetzalcoatl knows you won’t want to look at those projected resale values.
But, before you know it, we’re back to the gender role game. How many Caravan sales honestly fall victim to a potential customer’s need for manliness?
This spot is heading in the right direction, communicating a promise of frugal performance that we thought would be a bit more central to Dodge’s brand repositioning. It’s still hardly a perception-shifting spot though, and the technology it highlights is hardly the latest word. Still, it explains Dodge in a way that owes nothing to the Ram legacy that Chrysler says it wants the Dodge brand free of. If Wieden + Kennedy go in this direction instead of comparing Dodge vehicles to socks or breaking out the truck marketing book-o-cliches, the brand might have some kind of shot at surviving what Sergio Marchionne tells Automotive News [sub] is a “crucial” 2010 for the brand. Otherwise it’s game over.
I was hoping that they’d use the Charger to make fun of GM for pulling the Zeta sedan from North America. Thus sending Whitacre and Lutz into such rages that the entire Zeta-based Commodore/Statesmen/Ute/HSV/Sportwagon group would be brought to this continent.
Also, making fun of “fashion accessory” vehicles probably isn’t the smartest move when Fiats are about to inundate your lineup.
Separating the trucks from Dodge was a big mistake. Trucks are part of what gave Dodge their identity.
I still say Chrysler really screwed up when it killed Plymouth. It had a nice three-step ladder there–entry level (Plymouth), athletic performance brand/trucks (Dodge), and near-luxury (Chrysler).
Now we have ended up with both Dodge and even more damaging, Chrysler, trying to go down into Plymouth territory. And even Chrysler stepping on Dodge’s toes with the HEMI 300c.
And when you separate “Ram” from “Dodge”, all that’s left now is cheap cars.
The only problem was that the Plymouths and Chryslers really weren’t all that different from each other. Anyone with one good eye could see that the Breeze and the Cirrus, for example, were the exact same car. Same with the Voyager and the Town & Country.
At least in the 1960s, Chrysler took pains to make sure that buyers would never confuse a Fury with a Newport/300/New Yorker.
That sort of badge engineering makes it virtually impossible to sell Chrysler as an upscale marque.
Plus, virtually everyone thought of Dodge as Chrysler Corporation’s Chevrolet/Ford/Toyota/Honda competitor. The days when Dodge was a definite step up from Plymouth ended around 1970. By 1990, most people had forgotten that Plymouth even existed. Chrysler didn’t even bother to change the names for the Neon – the identical car was sold as a Plymouth AND as a Dodge!
Geeber–
The PT Cruiser would have been a great Plymouth and would have helped to revive that brand. They should have done that rather than killing it. It is awful as a Chrysler, though.
And there were many options you couldn’t get on a Breeze (including the 6 cylinder engine IIRC) that you could get on a Cirrus, or that you could get on a Town and Country that you couldn’t get on a Voyager. And before Plymouth went away, there weren’t any de-contended Town and Countries–they were all loaded. Killing Plymouth led to de-contenting Chryslers. Sure, they were badge-engineered before, but they were all up-optioned, loaded badge-engineered cars. That does a lot less damage to a “near luxury” brand than selling PT Cruisers and stripped Town and Countries.
If I recall correctly, the vehicle was originally named the PT Cruiser because “PT” stood for Plymouth Truck! It was supposed to be a Plymouth, but when Daimler decided to kill Plymouth, it was rebadged as a Chrysler.
We rented one when we visited Florida two years ago. A surprisingly handy vehicle, and one that actually drove better than the Chevrolet HHR we rented while visiting Texas in 2007.
The plan for Plymouth (before Dumbler came and FUBAR’d the place) was for it to offer inexpensive, trendy, retro themed vehicles. The Prowler was just the beginning. Next was the PT Cruiser and a small sporty convertible concept (Plymouth Pronto?) was introduced on the auto show circuit in the middle or late nineties. The only traditional types of vehicles would be the Voyager minivan and the Neon subcompact. The Breeze would have been phased out. Plymouth would have a very distintive look from the other two.
By the way, the Neon was designed from the beginning to have only one design and name between Plymouth and Dodge. This was done to keep the development and marketing costs to a minimum. It was felt that a car at this price point did not need to be differentiated between the brands. They were right. No one cared that it had the same name/grill/taillights as the Dodge.
I don’t know jack about Michael Hall (have not seen Dexter) but his voice is not suited to voiceovers. Or, they are tryingtosqueeze toomanywords into toolittletime.
he sounds like he’s on the verge of crying/whining.
I guess that thing is a redneck?
I saw the two Charger spots during Sunday’s football game, and I thought they were hilarious. C’mon, guys – How else do you sell a Charger R/T with a Hemi in today’s world? Its not economical, durable, reliable, sensible, or luxurious. When its manliness quotient is all you got, gotta go with it, and this ad does this well.
Fully agree with ya jpcavanaugh…they nailed it.
The PT Cruiser was originally supposed to be a Plymouth (PT = Plymouth Truck) until the greal Daimler braintrust decided to kill the Plymouth brand. Big mistake IMO, like cutting off one of the legs of a three legged stool. Dull Dodges and Cheap Chryslers created to fill the Practical Plymouth void diluted the Dodge/Chrysler brand images.
A google search or cursory look at friggin’ Wikipedia is all you need to find out that the Mayans DID not and DO not believe the world will end in 2012:
“Despite the publicity generated by the 2012 date, Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, stated that “We [the archaeological community] have no record or knowledge that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end” in 2012.[17] “For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle,” says Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal River, Florida. To render December 21, 2012, as a doomsday event or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is “a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in.”[18] “There will be another cycle,” says E. Wyllys Andrews V, director of the Tulane University Middle American Research Institute (MARI). “We know the Maya thought there was one before this, and that implies they were comfortable with the idea of another one after this.”
Why couldn’t a fancypants ad agency do a little bit of lazy research before making this silly idea the cornerstone of their ad? I see another trend being perpetuated here: insulting peoples’ intelligence and exploiting their ignorance.
I expected this from Roland Emmerich, but not the new new new Dodge.
The commercial is written to what people THINK that Mayan prophesy says. As well as that stupid movie . . . . . .
Since when does advertising, and car advertising in particular, have anything to do with fact-based reality? Advertising is all about images and perceptions. Tapping into an end-of-days meme courtesy of Hollywood and shabby science shows on cable is perfectly fair game for advertising.
You want to exclude silly ideas from advertising? Even just car advertising? To coin a phrase, notgonnahappen.com.
Like the commercials in general, got a good chuckle out of them. LOVED the mini-van commercial. Somebody finally came up with something butch about driving a mommyvan.
I give them credit for some ads with some humor. Much better than a smug Howie Long or space fantasy Lincoln ads. Plus the cost of producing those ads is miniscule; no fancy camera work or stunts, no songs to license, just a semi-famous voice and your product front and center. They seem like some pretty good bang for the buck.
The PT moniker is an instance of the neon’s PL chassis being updated. I assume the number of letters between L and T would be the number of prototypes designed before the one that found a green light.
LH turned into LX, JA turned to JR and is now JS.
About this PT being wrong for Chrysler: I’d call it a premium small car, but I’ve also spent 12 years driving with a neon named leon that are thoroughly enjoyable. I honestly don’t understand why those cars got such a bad rep. I ‘suffered’ the head-gasket ‘fiasco’ unscathed. It was a week in the shop 9 years ago.
The Dodge, to me, is Chrysler’s volume line. We’ve owned any number of the cars in my 3 decades, and the Chryslers have always felt like ‘occasion’ cars, with the Dodges being more pedestrian and scrappy. The Chrysler should be tuned for comfortable cruising with the Dodge platform-mate being calibrated more toward city use. I’ve always thought a Chrysler was a more stylish, plush– insulated– Dodge. Still possessing the Dodge’s handling/power advantage, but adding a layer of contemporary fluff.
The world changed when I was happily scooting around in that marvel of an economy coupe. I’m in the PT now. It’s a worthy neon successor and perfect entry into the Chrysler brand. The void I see in this whole branding scheme youall are very fond of– where is there for me to go now? I had the young person Dodge first, and leaped right into Chryslerdom for my 30s versatile car. My Sister, likewise, jumped from her Intrepid sport sedan into the Town & Country mommymobile. Mom and Dad have had them all, and are buying based on color and past experience within the brands. Mom is convinced her Stratus is a sport sedan. It would be, too– with a DIY transaxle.
The Dodge product should always be available with a manual. Chrysler should have one or two available, but in niche numbers. What has the take rate been on PT 5-Speeds?
I have to admit, I think the Neon is a handsome little car. Seems like after a big intro, Chrysler quit talking about them and they got a rep, deserved or not, for being cheap and unreliable.
iNeon:
2010 PT is auto only. Guess that says alot about the take rate for PT 5 speeds.
The funny thing is that the punchline of the Dodge Caravan about manliness ties into Dan Neil’s evolutionary take on the Chrysler Town & Country in 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/highway1/la-hy-neil17oct17,0,3769255.story where he posits that a premium minivan is the manliest vehicle because it displays one’s ability to produce and support offspring.
Well, from the tone of these ads, I guess Dodge is targeting mouth breathing neanderthals who aren’t familiar with birth control, and who need to thump their chests in an attempt to display dominance and/or warn off other primates in the area…
Classy…good luck with that.
Then again, they are probably hitting the target demographic for outdated, plasticy machines of dubious quality and sub-par reliabilty…so, um, well done then?
They have to advertise-you guys have killed them off so many times that you’ve got a priest on retainer for Last Rites
My wife and I got a good chuckle out of the Charger ads. Especially the comment about the lap-dogs. Particularly funny since my wife owns a 2009 Charger and a 5 lb. toy Poodle.
I guess nothing Chrysler or W+K do will ever be as bad as that Volt ad with the dog licking a foot…
They’re surely not as good as the ones with people jumping up and down in excitement over their new 1987 Toyota Tercel… I love what you do for me, Toyota.
Or… the island reggae spots wherever 120hp Protégés are serenaded: zoom zoom zoom.
Or Mr. Opportunity knocking, once-a-freaking-gain, on my television screen. I do understand breaking the fourth-wall is supposed to be ironic, but Al Bundy does it better.
Speaking of– Why doesn’t Dodge get Ed and Katey to do a nice humorous spot wrapping up the past, perceptions and future? It’d be hilarious, and totally blue-collar– Chrysler’s bread-and-butter.