Striking a Nerve
Silverado ads get strong reactions from viewers
By MARY CONNELLY | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
7:29 am, October 16, 2006


DETROIT -- On Saturday, Sept. 23, six executives from Chevrolet and its ad agency gathered at the home of Kim Kosak, the brand's advertising director. As they sat on the floor of Kosak's living room, they debated one of the most controversial TV commercials in years.

The executives screened dozens of video images of America from the past six decades: 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Vietnam, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Richard Nixon, Woodstock.

They weren't cramming for a history exam. Instead, they were crafting a spot for the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado, which would debut on national TV in a week.

Chevrolet and its longtime ad agency, Campbell-Ewald, are reminding viewers of some of the most emotional episodes in recent U.S. history as part of the Silverado's new marketing campaign, "Our Country. Our Truck."

The 60-second TV spot is provoking criticism and praise. Critics say General Motors is exploiting national tragedies to sell pickups. Supporters say the commercial is tasteful and inspirational and plays well among truck buyers.

"We were trying to strike that balance between provocative and not stepping over the line," Kosak told Automotive News. "This truck has been through the ups and downs of this country, working side by side with Americans. That was the core idea.

"A brand like Chevrolet can do it. If you used those images to hawk a $199 deal, that would be reprehensible."

'Pure American'

In March, Chevrolet asked Campbell-Ewald to create a campaign that portrays the Silverado as the "pure American pickup truck." Chevrolet and the agency reviewed 80 hours of video shot by five film directors and three photographers.

Campbell-Ewald was developing the Silverado spot when singer John Mellencamp's manager called Bill Ludwig, the agency's chief creative officer. Mellencamp had written a song that had not been released. Would Chevrolet be interested?

"I said, 'This is exactly what we are working on,'" Ludwig recalls. Mellencamp's song, "Our Country," provides the spot's soundtrack. He also appears in the commercial, singing the patriotic anthem.

As the ad's various elements fell into place, Kosak worked frantically to meet the campaign's fall deadline. By Labor Day weekend, Kosak had looked at 100 cuts of the ad. "My 4-year-old daughter has seen me looking at so many cuts, she was singing an unreleased John Mellencamp song," she says.

Chevrolet test-marketed the commercial's images in major truck markets such as Los Angeles, Dallas and Florida. Campbell-Ewald produced three versions: an upbeat spot, a hard-edged version and one with a mix of images.

Chevrolet turned down the upbeat version because it "lacked realism," Kosak says. Chevy also rejected the hard-edged spot, which included an image of a mushroom cloud.

"I cut a very provocative edit," Ludwig explains. "The atom bomb was in there. To me, it was about the atomic age, post-World War II. It never occurred to me that it would be offensive to Japanese-Americans, but other people read it that way. It was an atom bomb test, not Hiroshima."

In the final spot, the mushroom cloud was replaced with images of a Hula-Hoop and a child bicycling through the construction of a postwar suburb.

On Sunday, Sept. 24, Kosak screened the final version of the commercial at the home of Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper. He approved the spot, as did GM marketing vice presidents Mark LaNeve and Mike Jackson. The commercial broke during college football telecasts on Saturday, Sept. 30.

Taking heat

Ludwig says he anticipated that the Silverado spot would generate complaints. The commercial is about America "and the knocks we have taken and pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps," he says. "Anytime you are provocative, you are going to elicit some provocative responses.

"If you want to make a statement that rings true with the majority of people, you are going to **** off some people. There are a lot of cynical people out there who don't react well to this, and a lot of people who will never get behind the wheel of a pickup.

"So let them get into their Volvo sedans and complain about this spot that they see as exploitive," he says. "This is not for them. The biggest risk you can take is to play it safe."

On Saturday, Oct. 21, two new 30-second spots for the Silverado will debut during the World Series. A separate spot targeting Hispanic Americans also will premiere that day. That spot will use historic images such as Hispanic workers helping to build Hoover Dam.

It's too early to assess the commercial's impact. But John Wommack, general manager of Brown Chevrolet in Devine, Texas, says he thinks it will appeal to his store's truck customers. "They are very patriotic and proud of their country," he says. "The message will give them a good feeling."

GM won't get a scientific study of consumer response to the first commercial for several weeks. So far, Kosak says, anecdotal reaction has been "strikingly positive."

She adds: "We've had e-mail after e-mail from mothers and relatives involved in the incidents saying, 'You made me cry. You made me proud to be an American.'"

"A brand like Chevrolet can do it. If you used those images to hawk a $199 deal, that would be reprehensible."