Is Chevy Actually Convincing Anyone With Those Awful Ads?

"Anthony Miller" (ahmille4)
08/24/2016 at 19:05 • Filed to: None

Throughout the course of 2015 and 2016, humanity’s TV screens have been cursed with the bearded presence of this man:

Let me tell you what happened to the last guy who said these commercials were stupid.

This unfortunate soul, Potsch Boyd, in case you were wondering, is an actor who as far as I can tell has been hired to talk with some individuals of questionable automotive intelligence. Many people have already expressed their displeasure with the level of stupidity on display here but I am not going to discuss the people actually in the ads. Oh no, I am here to talk to YOU. The car buying public whom Chevrolet apparently believes will be persuaded by this.

On their own, the ads actually seem to be well produced and effective at eliciting a response. It’s not like Jalopnik hasn’t written about these commercials before and a quick trip to reddit (dear God, why?) shows some general displeasure about the ads. So, maybe, just maybe, Chevrolet is on to something here with these pieces. A little further examination of the ads shows a little something more basic going on too.

Take a look at this image on the left. I’ve singled out a particular focus grouper. Let’s call her Marge, because Marge never actually gets any real screen time. Now Marge seems like a perfectly nice participant in this particular group but for some reason, isn’t important enough to warrant a close-up.

However, those that do get their close up screen time don’t seem to vary too far from the white-washed vision of “attractiveness” that Hollywood tends to promote. Running counter to that there are three black males singled out in the commercial but the majority of one on one screen time is spent on thin, “attractive,” young looking white women. Now, I’m not attempting to point out what could be inherent sexism or racism in advertising. I would like to use this moment to show that Chevrolet and whatever ad company hired by them is attempting to make you the viewer feel attractive by telling you that these are “real people.” Now that you feel good about being one of these regular people, hey, good lookin’, you should go out and buy a Chevrolet because Attractive Real People TM like you drive Chevrolets. That’s why it doesn’t matter what these people say on these commercials, they’re just hot, so your mind shuts off.

Ok, so Marketing 101 out of the way, it’s pretty clear what Chevy is going after here. However, as consumers, we should be better than the inane comments dropped left and right during these commercials. Last time that I checked no, a Malibu does not feel or look like it’s in the “$80,000 range,” although apparently Lucille Bluth is in this commercial and she doesn’t have time for that sort of thing anyway. But, since Chevrolet thinks we as consumers are no better than our basic human urge to procreate with attractive people, their sales figures should show how right they are.

Let’s take a look at the sales from a few of their most heavily advertised models, the Malibu, Silverado, and Cruze. All recently updated and released in January 2016 and all prominently featured in these “Real People” commercials since mid 2015.

Starting from the bottom, the new Cruze is anything but a sales success story. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and seemed to accelerate their spiral in 2016 despite the introduction of these advertisements. Even Dieselgate and the old Cruze diesel which was the only real competitor to VW small diesels didn’t give it a bump. It seems that not even a gift wrapped screw-up from a major competitor and these ads can reverse the slide of the small sedan segment for Chevy.

The Silverado on the other hand has been a stalwart of the pickup segment for as long as it has been on sale. These “Real People” ads have been more directly targeted towards men if their focus groups are any indication. There are only three women in the commercial pictured below, compared to nineteen men by my count.

Seen here: Testosterone

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

So, at last, we get to the $80,000 Malibu. Surprisingly, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in a segment that is generally seen as dying due to the crossover revolution. In every month except July of 2016 Malibu sales have seen a year over year increase to the tune of exactly 19,603 more Malibus sold. How much of that these commercials are responsible for is difficult to tell without being able to ask the buyers directly but it’s probably safe to assume that at least some of them were persuaded by these spots. However, for the sake of this argument though, let’s attribute ALL of those Malibus to the new commercials.

So is Chevy really convincing anyone with those ads? Well, to recap, Cruze sales are down, Silverado sales are flat, and Chevy has sold almost 20,000 more Malibus this year. So what does that mean for these commercials? Now, I’m not entirely sure what the overall measurement of success is for Chevrolet, but I can’t imagine that 1 for 3 is good enough for Ms. Barra. Sales numbers aren’t looking too great and it looks like the ads aren’t working, except for those who really want that new Malibu. I think we can all agree then that hopefully that ad buy might run out sooner rather than later because otherwise, what on earth is Chevrolet doing?

If anything these commercials have at least provided us all with a very important service. Finally, definitive proof of what people have suspected about Malibu drivers all along. They’re little more than animals who define their worth by identifying themselves with attractive people on TV. Looks like you nailed it, Chevy.

DISCUSSION (16)

Chasaboo > Anthony Miller
08/24/2016 at 19:33

They’re not dopes. They run focus groups with those ads. They must work.

CRider > Chasaboo
08/24/2016 at 19:35

They should advertise their ads using focus group ads centered on ad focus groups.

LongbowMkII > Anthony Miller
08/24/2016 at 19:45

In college (late 2000's) I found many many mk4 Jetta drivers attractive. Didn't buy a mk4 Jetta.

cluelessk > Anthony Miller
08/24/2016 at 20:24

We’re car people.

The majority of car buyers aren’t. These ads aren’t targeted towards us.

Most people when they think “Chevy” they think of either trucks or Cavaliers(or any other shit box. The new Malibu is a very nice looking sedan that is competitive in it’s class. But most people wouldn’t even consider it because of the badge.

These ads are meant to help change the stigma.

MonkeePuzzle > Anthony Miller
08/24/2016 at 20:54

the one where they give guys a choice between a power saw and hand saw bugs me. I would pick the hand saw, AND the less powerful truck in both cases.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Anthony Miller
08/24/2016 at 20:57

Like I have pointed out to my Dad, Chevy and Sprint have the same marketing strategy: “Hey guys! We aren’t completely awful anymore! Please buy some stuff from us. Please?....”

Also Chevy is totally shooting themselves in the foot by bashing aluminum. I guarantee the next silverado is going to be at least partially, if not fully, aluminium.

Zohaibman72 > Chasaboo
08/24/2016 at 21:34

I haven’t heard any positive reactions about the Ads, everyone thinks they are incredibly dumb.

You can still run it through a focus group and have a terrible result. It’s happened hundreds of times

Stephenson Valve Gear > Anthony Miller
08/24/2016 at 22:40

The Silverado adds have certainly worked on me... I’ve been shopping for a new F-150!

Anthony Miller > cluelessk
08/24/2016 at 23:43

See that is my point. I think the Malibu is probably selling better just because it’s a good car, not because of marketing. Even if you attribute all of the positive response the Malibu gets to these ads, they still don’t seem to be making much sense for Chevy.

Granted, I didn’t tackle the Equinox sales so I could be totally wrong ha

StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8 > Anthony Miller
08/25/2016 at 08:36

These ad’s, as well as the Buick (“Thats a Buick?” yea, no shit it is, they have looked like this for years now....) just kill me. Can’t stand them, but I also know I’m not the market they are going after. The common buyer is dumb and just wants an appliance. For that, these ad’s probably work well.

Though, good god do all of Chevy’s designs look boring as hell anymore. Do they even try? The new Malibu looks like a catfish or something horrible. It’s so dopey.

Johnnyazz > Chasaboo
08/25/2016 at 08:57

I have the feeling they aren’t getting a good enough sample size.

and using the bottom of the barrel michigan suburbanites.

NJAnon > Anthony Miller
08/25/2016 at 23:17

Well Chevrolet believes their PR department is awesome. Well its not. Unless it can become the Hell’s Broodwich PR department.

(ATHF reference :P)

Textured Soy Protein > Anthony Miller
09/01/2016 at 15:56

Or, the new Malibu sales could be because it’s an all-new version while the last one was thoroughly mediocre and had way too small of a back seat.

Anthony Miller > Textured Soy Protein
09/01/2016 at 15:57

Anyone’s guess really

Jamoche > cluelessk
10/11/2017 at 00:04

The ads are hated on previously.tv too. Those aren’t car people, just annoyed TV watchers.

Paul > Anthony Miller
07/08/2019 at 20:46

I hate these ads, and I cannot stand the little bearded man with the soprano voice.