breathtaking supermodels... These are always appropriate. Get me a few hugs from this den and sign me up.
The ad is great. Of course it's aimed at early adopters-- those are the only people that are going to buy this car. I agree with you that the Prius ads at this point need NOT be aimed at early adopters, since everyone has now heard of it and it's no longer considered a crazy, fringe hippie car-- in fact I agree that the Prius ads do it a disservice. But that's not true of the Leaf-- it very much IS a crazy fringe hippie car, since I don't even have anywhere I can charge it yet in NYC. So they need to hammer away at the heartstrings of the crazy fringe. In other news, why is the password for this site so needlessly complicated? I have had to change my username and my password at least 3 times because I can't remember what it is. It's just a blog people, it's not a matter of national security.
I'd disagree that this ad is preaching to the choir. If I didn't buy a car a couple of months ago, I would be much more inclined to the buy this car after seeing the ad. Of course, I'm a sucker for high notes on the piano. Well done. An anti-terrorism ad would work probably work even better though. And an anti-oil exec ad? Hmm. I can always have two cars. ;-)
Reminds me of the excellent Kia Soul commercials with the hamsters or the more recent Geico commercial with the pig. IOW, ads with cute, fuzzy creatures sell. OTOH, while it's simply not practical for most people ('range anxiety' and a steep price will be hard to overcome), the only way Nissan (and others) will continue putting enormous amounts into the R&D development of more fuel efficient/alternative fueled vehicles is if they think, at some point, they'll realize a profit that warranted it. So, if the polar bear commercial sells more Leafs, more power to them.
It's cool if you want to disagree. (You're not the first) But I'd ask you, pretend you knew nothing about The Leaf, and were only watching the commercial with no knowledge of what The Nissan Leaf actually is. Would it motivate you to buy The Leaf, or even consider it? To me the ad, is clearly aimed at primarily promoting the idea that Nissan is a "Green" car maker. It's planting (no pun intended) the idea that Nissan is an ecological responsible company. But IMO the ad does little to directly promote The Leaf itself. Except for it's presence in the final shots of the ad, parked and in a driveway, the ad might as well be just a general ad promoting Nissan's commitment to being Green. Seems to me it's more an Ad for Nissan (and The Leaf) than actually an ad focused on promoting The Leaf as a product above a concept.
If one EV from Nissan is a Leaf, would a parking lot full of them be "Leafs" or "Leaves"? Would it be a tree, or a forest? :huh:
the commercial was well done, but i would agree that it's not going to be effective, mostly because polar bears are on the rise. this ad was sort of like they were trying to copy the bud Clydesdale ads but it was a poor copy.
Really? You think it's a good commercial but it's not going to be effective because the average consumer is scouring websites for the latest worldwide population numbers of polar bears? If they are, here's what they'll find: In 2005, PBSG classified polar bears as vulnerable on the IUCN World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species" noting that extinction could occur due to sea ice changes. In May 2008, U.S. Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act. Russia lists the polar bear as "a species of concern." At the 2009 meeting of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG), the world's leading polar bear scientists reported that of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, eight were declining, three were stable, and one was increasing. They lacked sufficient data to say what is happening to the remaining seven.
In 2005, PBSG classified polar bears as vulnerable on the IUCN World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species" noting that extinction could occur due to sea ice changes. In May 2008, U.S. Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act. Russia lists the polar bear as "a species of concern." At the 2009 meeting of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG), the world's leading polar bear scientists reported that of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, eight were declining, three were stable, and one was increasing. They lacked sufficient data to say what is happening to the remaining seven. (I guess they should have asked Octane for the rest of the data!)
LOL. We can see tigers in various zoos. So they are not endangered. Heck, I can even see Asian (Indian) Cheetas in zoos - so they didn't go extinct in the wild in 60's.
Well I don't particularly like the ad, I've gone on the record with that opinon. But oddly I'd say I agree with a lot (most) of the above article. It's absolutely ridiculous to seriously criticize the ad based on the fact that it shows a polar bear hugging a human. I can not like the tone or advertising approach but to seriously think that it's bad because it's not reflecting the reality of the relationship between humans and polar bears is idiotic. To further criticize it because perhaps it's promoting a scientific or ecological viewpoint or agenda you may or may not agree with, is also stupid. I don't dislike it because it shows a human and polar bear hugging. I don't dislike it because it supports the idea of habitat destruction and global warming due to mankinds presence on the planet. I dislike it because after it's release we are talking about all these things...and NOT talking about the reality of a Nissan Leaf.
hmm well let me clarify. i think it was a well done commercial as far as it's presentation. it has some suspense as you're trying to figure out why the bear is venturing into our habitat. As far as the bear, it was put on a list of sorts not because of low numbers but because of "global warming." The fact remains that there are more and more polar bears in the wild. So, it makes the entire issue appear to be agenda-driven. whether you agree with me or not doesn't really matter. most people are aware of the fact that the polar bear is not in as much danger as it used to be, so that element of the commercial is not convincing. They would have been better off to make it about nature (instead of an endangered species....which by the way the polar bear is listed as vulnerable which is below endangered), and have various animals show up, like birds, deer, bears, raccoons, and so on. i still agree with the people that suggested the leaf should be more about getting off foreign oil. "buy this car and stop handing Iran and Venezuela money" would have been a good campaign.
I'd make it a less harsh statement than stupid ... because every one is entitled to their opinion. Man made (or not) G/W has turned out to be quite the hot-button, visceral topic. Just read a few threads in the 'environmental' column on CO2 and see for your self. It's almost an extension of FHOP, unfortunately rather than just respectfully having a dialog. As I've said before - (and even the oilie, Bush acknowledged the U.S. addiction to oil) if we get transportation fuel back to being domestic AND renewable, all the other junk is moot (funding al queda, toxic spills etc). I do like the arts-ie factor, despite the message.
