Cadillac: "We're Super Interesting & Stuff"

"Andrew T. Maness" (theroadlessdriven)
02/22/2015 at 23:35 • Filed to: Ad Watch, Cadillac, The Oscars, New York City, Andrew Maness, The Road Less Driven, Lexus

I really hope this makes the front page because I think it'll generate some of the most entertaining comments Jalopnik has seen since those Lexus ads launched. Cadillac's new ad "The Arena: Dare Greatly" will run this Sunday during the Oscar's which makes perfect sense because it's a minute and 34 seconds of Oscar bait.

Overall I do find this spot far more tolerable than much of the other crap being pumped out by a number of luxury automakers. The cinematography is good, I like the enhanced audio but it smacks of a film school thesis film, desperate for approval from the art crowd.

Just a suggestion for Cadillac, this one is free. Instead of quoting Teddy Roosevelt how bout you give us the sound of the ATS V idling above the drone of the city streets? The self indulgent, grand mission statement, "Aren't we artsy?" commercial has been done to death in recent years and it got old pretty damn quick.

You can do better Cadillac, you've moved to the cultural melting pot of the western world. How bout source some original ideas from the community in which you've firmly planted yourself, do something authentic. Enough of this overly serious garbage, it just doesn't work. Anyone with half a brain can see right through it. The whole time I was hoping it was going to take a comedic turn and make fun of those Lexus/Infiniti/Acura ads because whether you like it or not, that's your competition. Missed opportunity, Cadillac, missed opportunity indeed.

Andrew Maness writes about cars because he has one and also has a computer. He's been known to drunkenly Tweet as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and upload photos to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . He also has a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and thinks talking about himself in the 3rd person is really weird but knows it's necessary if he wants to be taken seriously as an automotive journalist.

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DISCUSSION (14)

Your boy, BJR > Andrew T. Maness
02/20/2015 at 10:28

0:50, champ

Cebu > Andrew T. Maness
02/20/2015 at 10:44

As a commercial, it's crap. All it accomplishes is brand association with arthaus-y films and Teddy Roosevelt. It doesn't even show a real product- all it shows is the brand as the product. It may have been intended to cut loose the strings of the retireemobile association, but as you point out, the sound of an ATS-V would have done that much better.

Shame we can't make proper car ads these days. Heck, I've seen "professional driver do not attempt" at the bottom of a commercial with the sole driving going on being a safe and legal 35 mph in a straight line. 1:34 of the ATS-V pounding around VIR with cut-in shots of the interior would have served much, much better.

Now that's an Oscar-bait commercial: get studio-quality shots of the interior from inside the car while it's doing a race-pace lap of a track.

You gotta admit, though, it's a hell of a quote.

nermal > Andrew T. Maness
02/20/2015 at 11:10

My opinion of Caddilac in general is mixed. I recently got the chance to check out the new ATS sedan and coupe at an auto show, and think they are fantastic. Both of them, and both the interior and exterior. The driving experience is TBD.

This ad? It's crap. It does nothing to excite me, to spend a significant portion of my income on a new Caddy. Let's face it, they don't need to market to old people. Old people will still buy big, boring old Caddys because that's just what they do. The brand will never lose that segment of its customer base, as long as it still has big, boring cars to sell to them. Call them "old money" cars.

The ATS specifically isn't that. It's a "new money" car. They need to target the 25-35 year old, with a decent job and some extra cash available to afford a $4-500 car payment.

You don't do that by putting them to sleep! You do that by selling fun, and edgy, yet refined and mature at the same time. Focus on the socially connected aspect, and how the car fits in there. Show a business casual corporate drone driving to work, then doing lunch with his work bros, then going out on a date, then meeting a buncha friends for beers, with the car being the centerpiece of it. The car is exciting, and a significant part of the existense of the protaganist of the ad. Buying one will make you more attractive and more likely to get promoted at work and more likely to go on hot dates and more likely to get bought beers by your bros. And now you can't wait to go to the dealer to look at one!

This ad appeals to hippies / hipsters that wear scarves and dirty ironic clothes and drink coffee that takes five minutes to order and even longer to make. And that type of person can't afford the car, so screw 'em.

nermal > Cebu
02/20/2015 at 11:15

I would love to see a Caddilac ad with nothing but an ATS-V (manual equipped, duh) tearing up VIR. Extra attention would need to be paid to the (former) Oak Tree turn, because it's awesome in anything high powered - You exit the turn onto the long straight, floor it, and hold on.

Call it about 1:25 of footage, with the final seconds the car sliding sideways to a stop, in front of some explosions. No extra sounds or words, except for maybe a voice-over of your tagline.

That would be exciting!

Andrew T. Maness > Your boy, BJR
02/22/2015 at 23:34

I absolutely LOVE this clip.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Andrew T. Maness
02/22/2015 at 23:43

I don't know if I just over analyzed the commercial or what, but I got a message of:

We've screwed up in the past. People pointed out our screw ups in the past. We understand our screw ups. We're back, and we're fighting the best fight we have against our competitors. We're daring to fight the giants. We're daring to be America's only competitor to the giants. We know the risks we have and we think we've got what it takes. If we fail, we know we failed doing the best we possibly could. We are Cadillac, and we're in this arena to fight our best fight, for better or worse.

Hi, I'm Troy McClure > Andrew T. Maness
02/22/2015 at 23:50

I think it's fair to say that this spot was not aimed at enthusiasts. It was aimed at the luxury buyers who only make 3 stops when they look for a new car (Audi, MB and BMW). Another shot of the ATS-V idling does little to the majority of their target customers. I understand your gripes as an enthusiast though, unfortunately most car-buyers couldn't care less about that kind of stuff.

DoYouEvenShift > Andrew T. Maness
02/22/2015 at 23:55

CTSV idling would be a little more audible.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Andrew T. Maness
02/23/2015 at 00:05

I'm not Caddy's, or anyone's, target buyer so I won't comment on what I think of the brand.

The commercial is as any new age car commercial. We're so daring. We're so modern. We're going to show you people and things that have nothing to do with our cars, to create the illusion that we are somehow comparable to likeable celebrities (hello Lincoln), humanitarians, and successful artists.

I wish car commercials just showed the goddamn car. And not driving at night or trucks driving through puddles while hauling steel girders. Show me the damn thing, and don't skimp on the interior shots. Soft voices and silhouettes are not informative [old man rant has concluded]

GTI MkVII > Andrew T. Maness
02/23/2015 at 00:50

You guys are missing the point of the spot. They are not selling a specific vehicle. This is not a retail ad. This is a new branding campaign through and through. Not to mention, none of us here on an automotive enthusiasts' blog are the target audience.

If they're "selling" anything, it's the idea of owning a Cadillac. That Cadillac stands for something new and bold now. Sure, there are glimpses of the car here and there but that's only to reinforce things in a subtle way.

It's very "Apple-like" in terms of its messaging. And not so ironically, Steve Wozniak is featured in the ad. Think of this as the first act in a multi-part "coming out" event for Cadillac. There's more to come.

Also, there's essentially no such thing as bad publicity. We're all here chatting about the spot and the brand now, aren't we?

Your boy, BJR > Andrew T. Maness
02/23/2015 at 00:53

I think they need to hire me for marketing. I already have the perfect tagline:

"We're Cadillac. You're not. Suck a dick."

Andrew T. Maness > GTI MkVII
02/23/2015 at 13:10

Oh I get the point, well aware of the branding approach they're taking, I just don't care for this style of commercial because it's wholly unoriginal.

If their tagline is gonna be "dare greater" then they should damn well do so instead of doing the same ol b.s. as everyone else.

Andrew T. Maness > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
02/23/2015 at 13:12

You sir got the intended message.

I know what they're trying to do and I like it, I just don't care for how they're going about it.

Andrew T. Maness > DoYouEvenShift
02/23/2015 at 13:13

True that.