It’s hard enough going through a divorce, but if you own a Toyota Hilux, fear not – there is happiness by sharing the unbreakable ute.
And, the TV ad that has tried to fuse this odd dichotomy over a casual road trip is effective, according to adland royalty on the ABC’s Gruen last night.
Wil Anderson, the brilliantly acerbic host, suggested that a divorce situation is more akin to Isuzu’s tagline: ‘Go your own way’; but the panellists disagreed.
“They aren’t selling it with divorce, it’s about the feel good factor of getting back together,” argued Dee Madigan, the ECD of Campaign Edge.
Madigan explains that Aussies have had a divorce with Toyota – even though it has the most brand loyalty – because of cheaper Chinese imports flooding the market and taking market share away from the “unbreakable” Japanese badge.
That’s why, argues Madigan, the ad has used a romcom format – “they are predictable, familiar and make us feel better… come back to us, you know what you love about us”.
Adland veteran and Gruen regular Russel Howcroft praised the ad for being so easy to “beat us over the head with it”.
“You don’t get sick of it because there’s a story there,” he said.
Thinkerbell founder Adam Ferrier reckons the spot reflects modern day reality – many couples get divorced – rather than the aspirational vignette of previous eras – and that the best line is at the end of the ad, when the guy goes “can I drive”.
“He hasn’t learnt a thing after six years,” Ferrier said, after labelling the guy “a dick” and explaining the brands’ “understanding the pain we go through”.
Madigan stepped in to suggest that the ad is “hokey pokey”, explaining “this is about a couple sharing custody of a car”.
Bureau of Everything co-founder and chief strategy officer Emily Taylor “loves it”, explaining that almost every grown up has either gone through a divorce or heard about one.
“It’s relevant to everyone and I love all of the tropes that they’ve put in there from those divorces. The gifting to trying to buy the affection of the ute; the handing over of the chamois as a special toy. That’s why you can keep watching it over and over again.”
Telstra Strikes Gold
Telstra’s new campaign, which uses 26 versions of stop motion animal characters to talk about their coverage proved a hit with the panellists.
“It’s like a little advent calendar that we will get over the course of weeks and months.” Taylor said. “It will be a treat and they have done it with so much restraint for a market leading brand.
Madigan praised the simplicity of messaging – keeping it simple and focused – like the tennis ball analogy, where it’s easy to catch one ball but not many at the same time.
Ferrier said it made a challenging subject matter – network coverage – relatable while Howcroft doubted that you will find “anyone in advertising who doesn’t like this stuff.”
Anderson resorts: “And that’s what ads are for, people who work in advertising.”
Commbank Catastrophe & Crocs
The Unloan ad, ‘built by Commonwealth Bank’, left Anderson and the panel “underwhelmed”, check out a still from the ad above.
“The only realistic bit was when the housing market made her want to jump off a building,” quipped Anderson.
Howcroft said the advertising is not clear on why this bank loan is an “unloan”, arguing it is harder to be 30 than anytime previously.
Ferrier said ”Why would you wrap that up in incomprehensible garbage. I had no idea what the brand and product was.”
Taylor said it seems like a “corporate hype film that’s trying to be hip and “start-upy” that was played internally at CommBank that used the latest special effects and last decades choreography that haven’t told you anything about the product.”
The panel loved the Extra chewing gum add (see above) and were split on the pitch of the week, between the agencies Balance and Smith Brothers Media.
All panellists applauded the “cool” marketing genius of Crocs, but Ferrier opined: “Crocs are a sign that we’ve just collectively given up as a society.”
Ferrier, Taylor and Madigan delivered wonderful presentations at Cannes in Cairns last week.
You can catch up on Gruen on ABC’s iView.
