Nag. Complain. Reward.

Television

Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, USA
Client: Dodge
Target Market: Manly Men
Creative Directors: Aaron Allen, Joe Staples
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, Mark Fitzloff
Art Director: Jimm Lasser
Copywriter: Joe Staples
Producer: Lisa English

This television commercial for Dodge Charger is relatively simple in execution and isn’t visually creative, yet has caused a stir since its debut during the Super Bowl in 2010. In the beginning it appears to be a guy complaining about having to do the mundane things in his life; the stuff most guys have to put up with as a normal individual in society. Walking the dog, eating fruit for breakfast, shaving, going to work and sitting through meetings are things everyone has to do, male or female. So far, this advertisement seems pretty harmless and maybe even a little boring.

The ad takes a nasty turn about 15 seconds in when the man says, “I will say yes when you want me to say yes. I will be quiet when you don’t want to hear me say no.” It then launches into an ad about all the “horrible” things a man has to endure throughout his day, which is mostly putting up with his nagging woman. After the complaining escalates he says, “And because I do this, I will drive the car I want to drive.”

The Charger is the man’s reward for putting up with his girlfriend or wife. What kind of message does this advertisement really send to both males and females? A man has to do all these nice things, which are really just polite things that anyone can do, and because he does them he deserves to drive a muscle car. A woman is nothing but someone who nags endlessly and would rather emasculate her man and make him drive a mini-van. The message isn’t appropriate for women or men. It might as well say, “Be a real man and drive a real car, you wimp.”

Not only is this advertisement offensive to both men and women alike, it’s boring. The Super Bowl is usually the time when advertisers bring out the big guns and show off their agency’s talent. This ad fell short of any crowning achievement in special effects, except for a few moments of a speeding Charger and roaring engine at the end. There are plenty of alternative ways to advertise such a cool car, especially when on a Super Bowl budget. This just didn’t live up to audience expectations.

Super Bowl commercials are notorious for spending a lot of money and advertisers expect them to pay off in return, but this ad didn’t exactly get the response it was looking for. Following the Super Bowl, Dodge’s Internet traffic went down by 7%. According to Cars Direct (2012), the ad not only “effectively alienated a good portion of the viewing audience (yes, women watch the Super Bowl too), but the result was the lowest effectiveness index for an ad that targeted a specific car model” (“How effective,” para. 7).

The Dodge Charger is an amazing car. I find them appealing and would love the opportunity to drive one. I don’t think Dodge planned on excluding women from their market but this commercial sends the message: “This is a man’s car. After all, he deserves it for putting up with you.” On YouTube, one viewer posted: “You don’t need to make a stand and take back your ‘manhood’ with this car. The charger is sexy, ’nuff said. There should be no gender about it.” It couldn’t have been said any better.

References

How effective were the 2010 Super Bowl car commercials? (2012, January 26). Cars Direct. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from http://www.carsdirect.com/automotive-news/how-effective-were-the-2010-super-bowl-car-commercials