An SUV for the Whole Ex-Family

[dr_mabeuse]

Has anyone else seen this TV ad? It's for some Ford SUV.

A happy family is driving along a California country road, stopping to buy balloons and I think some ice cream, then having a picnic or going to the beach as the announcer intones the virtues of their Ford SUV - its mileage and spaciousness nd all that.

At the end, the dad gets out and his little daughter runs into his arms and they hug, then she runs back into the SUV and you see he's got an overnight bag at his feet. The wife is now behind the wheel, looking not exactly happy, maybe a little impatient to get going, and his family drives off waving, leaving him there in front of what looks like some low-rent beach-front condos. The implication seems to be that these people are separated and were just spending the day together.

I've had other people watch this commercial and they agree - this is an ex-family. It's the kind of thing that's so innocuous you wouldn't even notice unless you actually watched the whole thing (which I did for some unknown reason.)

The ad ran for like a week and then disappeared, and I thought they'd come to their senses and pulled it, but then it came back. Anyone else seen it? Any idea what they were thinking? Are there a lot of soon-to-be-divorced couples looking to buy SUV's together?

 

[BlackShanglan]

Yes, I saw that too, and like you I was baffled by it. What, indeed, is the message there? I can only assume that it's a half-baked attempt to appeal to a market demographic.

"I know, let's lure in the divorced-parent demographic with a clumsy, ham-fisted depiction of them driving our vehicle!"

 

[snowy ciara]

It's still running in my area, but they've added a line where the little girl says (in a sickly sweet voice) "Are you coming next weekend, daddy?" or something like that.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

"I know, let's lure in the divorced-parent demographic with a clumsy, ham-fisted depiction of them driving our vehicle!"

At the rate the American brands are losing marketshare, they are probablly desparate for any demographic that they can get.

 

[Trinique_Fire]

thank god for that commercial. know why? i have yet to meet a family that looks like it came out of a greeting card. kudos to looking at every angle.

 

[neonlyte]

Sounds to me like they are dropping 'dad' off at some run down shack by the beach, he can't afford a car 'cos the maintenance for the wife and kids takes all his money. He must have been a bad boy.

 

[izabella]

It's still running in my area, but they've added a line where the little girl says (in a sickly sweet voice) "Are you coming next weekend, daddy?" or something like that.

Haven't seen the ad...

...maybe it means your deadbeat, responsibility-neglecting dad will finally start spending time with you if you have a fun new SUV for him to drive!

or

...maybe the parents didn't stay together for the children, but this SUV sure is worth a reconciliation!

or

...if you'd bought this SUV in the first place, you wouldn't have gotten separated!




Are you sure it was an SUV ad and not a divorce lawyer ad? Hire me as your lawyer and you'll end up with the kids and the SUV instead of the seedy condo...

 

[dr_mabeuse]

...maybe the parents didn't stay together for the children, but this SUV sure is worth a reconciliation!

You may be on to something here.

The key to the ad is that brief look in the mom's eyes just before she drives away with the kids. It's a real "screw you" moment. She definitely got his balls when she made off with the SUV in the settlement, and he knows it too. She's got the house, the kids, and the spiffy new SUV, and he's got his overnight bag and a one-bedroom condo in Solo Mio Estates. I really think they may be pitching this car to wives who've had just about enough of the old man and are looking for a nice divorce car to stick dad with the payments for.

Someone else suggested that Purpose Number One of any ad is to get our attention, but this is not an attention-getter. It's almost subliminal in its subtlety. And even if there are a lot of divorced families today, I can't believe any savvy advertiser like Ford wants to associate its product with the unhappiness of separation and a disintegrating family. They think there's something postive in this little vignette, and that positive seems to be screwing the old man.

 

[Huckleman2000]

It's not just an SUV - it's a hybrid SUV!

I sort of thought the ad was hopeful, like they are adults who are trying to do right by their little girl even if they don't get along. You know, the earnest types that would buy a hybrid SUV.

Maybe this will be one of those series of ads where they tell a story, like those coffee ads years ago.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

It's not just an SUV - it's a hybrid SUV!

I sort of thought the ad was hopeful, like they are adults who are trying to do right by their little girl even if they don't get along. You know, the earnest types that would buy a hybrid SUV.

Maybe this will be one of those series of ads where they tell a story, like those coffee ads years ago.

Or maybe a flashback ad where she comes home and catches him riding the 16yo babysitter.

Not really sure just what demographic that would appeal to, but it's bound to strike a chord with someone.

 

[Seattle Zack]

This ad is part of Ford's "Bold Moves" campaign, the same one where the attractive brunette pays for the dry-cleaning of the attractive man in the Mustang behind her. Seth Stevenson at Slate had an interesting column about it a while back:

This is perhaps the weirdest commercial I've covered in this column. It is a freakish mash-up, blending a classically boring car ad with a bizarre stab at social commentary. I can't for the life of me see what Ford hopes to achieve here.

The ad begins with ho-hum familiarity. The stock shots of the smiling family; the artfully filmed vehicle; the announcer's cheerful pitch about fuel efficiency. We're waiting for the lease/buy figures to pop up on screen when … BAM! With no warning, we find ourselves in the grip of a stern domestic drama. The music goes quiet. Dad gazes wistfully at mom, thanking her for this time with his kids. Mom looks back with wet eyes, barely able to muster a reply. The camera pulls out and we see Dad standing alone, with his sad little duffel bag, in front of what one reader termed the "Recent Divorcé Condo Complex." And we're left wondering: Why did this SUV ad turn into Kramer vs. Kramer?
...

According to John Felice, Ford's general marketing manager, the ad is meant to be a "celebration of family" and also an ode to "the versatility of life itself, as well as the versatility of the Freestyle." Felice says he's received letters from "nontraditional families" thanking him for making the ad. And it really is nice to see a divorced family show up in a commercial. I hope it will start to happen more often. It's reality, and I've no doubt it's healthy for kids from broken homes to recognize themselves in the occasional TV ad.

Just not this ad. The wife invites her estranged husband along for a weekend with their kids? Won't that make the poor kids hope for a reconciliation? You'd better know what you're doing here, Mom! And while we see Dad's overnight bag, we don't see the inevitable argument over whether he and Mom will share a motel room. ("I can't even afford my own room with these alimony payments!"; "I told you this was about the kids, not us!"; "Emasculating witch!"; "Quiet, the children!" This is the sort of thing the ad leaves out.)

More important, the spot makes no sense as an enticement to buy a Freestyle. Get this car and perhaps your tattered marriage will segue into an amicable separation? Get this car because it's big enough to fit ex-spouses and a passel of half-siblings? The spot itself isn't sure what it wants to be, masquerading as a tale about the Freestyle's fuel capacity before it veers toward this tacked-on twist ending. As the ad fades out, the viewer is left confused, and yes, even a bit forlorn. I suppose that's a bold move for Ford, but is it a wise one?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Thanks, Zack. So they really don't know what the fuck they're doing, do they? That just amazes me.

So the thinking at Ford goes like this: kids of divorced parents will see kids of divorced parents having a good time with their Ford Freestyle in the TV ads and not feel so bad about being children of divorced parents. And how does that sell cars?

Here's an idea. We have a lot of children who've lost pets out there. How about an ad showing kids taking their dead pet to the cemetary in their Ford Freestyle?

 

[Lauren Hynde]

It's not just an SUV - it's a hybrid SUV!

Isn't that a little like Diet Coke, or vegetarian lasagna?