Who Gets "It"? Not Car Advertisers

Alder Crocker — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:07:06 -0400

Try a simple test: cover the logo of a range of car print ads, or try to remember the car commercial that came on screen 15 minutes ago, and see if you can tell who the advertiser is.

Chances are, you can't. If you've seen one windy road, one off-road or even one happy family watching DVDs in their new SUV, excuse me, CUV, you've seen just about every car ad out there.

When Lexus came out with its teaser campaign 15 or so years ago, it was considered industry-changing. Not showing the car, just the experience. And the cars sold. Fast.