[smart.ads]

This is for a Graduate level school project. There is no compensation and we plan to release the video on YouTube upon completion.

What does a smart car ad feel like?

What kind of music?

Is it funny? Is it cocky? Is it pretentious? Is it quiet? loud?

Does it make fun of people with big and uneconomical cars?

We also have a thread about taglines that can be found here (http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f2/submit-tagline-31494/#post336152)

We really appreciate your help and hopefully smart car is watching...

 

[forestacademy]

Currently in the US I would say they are really quiet

 

[Dunerunner]

What does a smart car ad feel like?...

It's smart!

What kind of music?...

Is it funny? Is it cocky? Is it pretentious? Is it quiet? loud?...

No, it's FUN!, No, It's Cool!, No, it's Practical!, Yes!! and Yes!!

Does it make fun of people with big and uneconomical cars?...

No, it leads by example!

I hope this helps!!

 

[Old smart]

Just Google "smart car youtube commercials." A bunch will come up. Almost all the advertizing has been for foreign consumption, as smartUSA has been very reticent in this area. But, if and when smartUSA does decide that advertizing is important, they will look very much like the foreign ads. Mercedes-Benz/smart GmbH ensures that everything is kept to the same standards - even the exterior and interior of the dealerships are similar.

 

[TMACK]

What exactly IS a smart car ad, and how does one feel it?

I have yet to experience a smart car ad, either on my TV, or my newspaper or my postal service.

 

[rfernatt]

When I think of a smart commercial, I think first it has to be fun - fun like receiving your first Radio Flyer wagon, Big Wheel, or go cart as a kid. The giddyness, the excitement, the wide-eyed sheer joy of owning a toy like one of those. It would have upbeat music to go along with those feelings that reminds you of childhood times - circus, county fair, amusement park style music.

Toward the end, the commercial could transition from a childhood theme to adult life where the fortwo is "fun at heart" and park in a tiny spot, avoid an accident due to its small size, bounce something off the plastic panels without damage, pass up a gas station smiling, watch hot air balloons through the clear panoramic roof, etc. At the very end, the smart driver should see a kid on a Big Wheel maneuvering around some obstacles, smile real big and then do the same in the smart - maybe slalom around some traffic cones.


This thread made me think of a previous thread for what it's worth:
http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f7/member-ideas-smart-commercials-27677/

 

[rfernatt]

A couple other ideas:

Setup the commercial with people leaving a parking garage where an arm raises up to allow exit. The arm is not working correctly and people are trying to trigger the arm to raise by backing up slightly, waving their arms, yelling, flashing their lights, etc. and are visibly agitated. A couple of security guards are off to the side making funny commentary about what each driver is trying - "Yeah, maybe if you yell a little louder it will hear you! snicker, snicker". Once the smart makes it to the arm, it just drives around the end of the arm to exit without stopping or doing anything. The security guards just stare with gaping mouths. Fade to slogan: "exit strategy ... smart". Yep, I've done it at my work parking garage.


Another thought... My wife likes to refer to the smart as the cuddle car since the driver and passenger sit so close. In our truck, it feels like we are miles apart comparatively. So, setup a commercial with couples passing by in large trucks, SUVs, etc. with maybe an overhead, in front camera angle. Each couple looks unhappy and is keeping to themselves staring off on far sides of each vehicle. Lastly, a smart rolls up with a couple. They are noticeably happy and smiling slyly as they are very close to each other. Fade to the tag line: "together time ... smart".

 

[chumly]

Don't feed the troll!

 

[fredp]

stupid=mercedes

Hey how about a commercial that is honest. You paid for a car with the mega ironic nameplate on it. It's so smart that the entire American lineup of Smart cars average less fuel efficiency than half a dozen other cars sold here... Hey it's so smart that a fender bender is more of an assisted suicide and the best part is my VW that seats four people comfortably and gets better gas mileage. God I love stupid people with money to burn that are in that elite category of being super pretentious without realizing it.

Lesseehere... you own a mercedes? and smart owners are stupid? hmmm...

 

[jwight]

Or maybe a VW "that gets better gas mileage"? Maybe one that gets comparable mileage on diesel fuel; remember, the smart is still the highest EPA rated 100 percent gasoline powered car sold in the USA. Our friend from DC is just trolling...

 

[Smart Enuf]

Because smartUSA seems to be of the mindset that the smart is a luxury purchase, maybe a smart ad should be something like this:

A rising starlet (perhaps Amanda Seyfried because her big eyes resemble the smart's headlights)...

is going shopping on Rodeo Drive. She then decides she needs to go somewhere fast, probably to a fundraiser, and there's no time to wait for the Ferrari...

So she reaches into her purse and takes out her Swarovski-encrusted iPhone 4,

her Swarovski-bejeweled Cheeweenie dog,

and her Amex Black Centurion card (invitation-only, $2500 annual fee, minimum purchases of $250K per year).

Ahh, she finally found it -- her dehydrated smart car.

She puts it on the ground, pours a few drops of the world's most expensive bottled water, Bling H20

(Bling H2o | More than a pretty taste),

and voila! Instant full-size smart car, ready for a luxury drive anywhere (except on the freeways, which are clogged in L.A. anyway)!

(okay, that's Jennifer Love-Hewitt driving, not Amanda, but you get the picture)

A national ad like this can practically pay for itself with just the product placement fees alone.

This could be successfully pulled off if done in a self-mocking way. Then again, maybe not...

 

[sunnyokanagan]

How does a smart car ad look? See that smart car driving along? Follow that car to a parking lot. Watch people stop and ask the driver all kinds of questions. Listen to the driver take time out of his/her day to answer them.

Visit websites that trash the smart car. Read blog replies from smart car owners pointing out all the prejudice, lies, and misinformation written on those sites. A giant cohort of smart drivers perpetrating a viral web campaign on their own time.

Listen as a smart owner argues with a coworker about a video the coworker saw last night that said the smart is a death trap. The smart owner points out that the car in the picture was a VW and not a smart, and spends the next half hour explaining all the safety features of the smart.

You have just watched a smart car ad. It is repeated hundreds of times a day in cities all over the US. Both face-to-face and virtual guerrilla advertising, for which MB/smart pays nothing.

Clevva.

 

[BobDiaz]

Hey how about a commercial that is honest. You paid for a car with the mega ironic nameplate on it. It's so smart that the entire American lineup of Smart cars average less fuel efficiency than half a dozen other cars sold here... Hey it's so smart that a fender bender is more of an assisted suicide and the best part is my VW that seats four people comfortably and gets better gas mileage. God I love stupid people with money to burn that are in that elite category of being super pretentious without realizing it.

Don't feed the troll!

Besides, you can't fix stupid.

However, trolls like that do cause me to laugh at their stupidity.


Bob Diaz

 

[redeuce]

Make ads with real smart owners.

 

[forestacademy]

You don't want most of us in adds. Trust me

 

[chumly]

A few of us might! Ho Ho Ho!

 

[10632]

Open on Big City, USA during rush hour (queue angry music in background) - bumper to bumper SUVs and Mini Vans, each with one person in it, each frustrated by the lack of motion. Pan into town, show the search for a parking space - lots of gaps, nothing big enough. Near collisions when a spot opens up...

(Change music to quiet, happy) - Welcome to Smartville (fictitious city in USA) - clean, quiet city at rush hour, filled with smarts. Plenty of room, cars moving quickly. Quick shots of the variety of folks driving them - the teen college student listening to pop, the 20-something, the 30-something - all the way up to seniors, all ages, shapes, colors, genders - each car slightly customized in some noticeable way - rims, wraps, etc. etc.

Fade to black, with a small slogan - "It's a small world, why crowd it?", close to the smart logo...

 

[forestacademy]

Open on Big City, USA during rush hour (queue angry music in background) - bumper to bumper SUVs and Mini Vans, each with one person in it, each frustrated by the lack of motion. Pan into town, show the search for a parking space - lots of gaps, nothing big enough. Near collisions when a spot opens up...

(Change music to quiet, happy) - Welcome to Smartville (fictitious city in USA) - clean, quiet city at rush hour, filled with smarts. Plenty of room, cars moving quickly. Quick shots of the variety of folks driving them - the teen college student listening to pop, the 20-something, the 30-something - all the way up to seniors, all ages, shapes, colors, genders - each car slightly customized in some noticeable way - rims, wraps, etc. etc.

Fade to black, with a small slogan - "It's a small world, why crowd it?", close to the smart logo...

The same could be done showing the car going to any major event with on street parking. Most folks walking a mile because they couldn't find a real spot, but the smart fit into that spot no one else even considered right up front. Oh Wait, that one has already been done in Europe.

 

[forestacademy]

I Forgot about this one

Local Add Note, this is a pre US release add. Take a look at the wheels on those cars, neither are currently available in the states

 

[kheran]

Out with the trolls, I say!