I thought we were done with this. Who started it, anyway?
Maybe it was Chevrolet with the 1953 Bel Air. The pedestrian Powerglide emblematic of one of LA’s swankiest enclaves? I don’t think so.
Other overreachers include the Pontiac Bonneville, Chevy Monte Carlo and Dodge Monaco. Princess Grace leaving the palace in a Dodge or Chevy? Unlikely.
Perhaps the most brazen example was the Pontiac Parisienne. I just don’t see Pierre loading up the trunk of this lumbering Detroit Iron with Chateau Lafitte.
I thought we were well past that, but in rolls Kia, the Korean-based manufacturer of price point vehicles. Note the Sorento, Sedona and Rio.
One would assume the Sorento alludes to Sorrento, Italy, the elegant tourist destination hard by the Gulf of Naples. Not a place one counts pennies.
And the “affordable” Sedona minivan exemplary of the retreat for reclusive Hollywood celebrities? I doubt you will find the word (affordable) in any Sedona guidebook. The last time I was there, the manager of the Bed & Breakfast where I bivouacked was preparing for her monthly two-hour trek to a Phoenix Kmart to do her shopping.
As far as the Rio is concerned, I did a grueling drive from NYC to DC in one. It was no carnival.
I thought we were past locality hyperbole. If a car is a Peoria, just call it a Peoria.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Isn't marketing ABOUT hyperbole? Like I'm gonna buy a Renault Ennui? Strange to hear this from a marketing expert; I'm not sure what your point is.
By the way, my other comment was not a critique. I really don't understand. Were you just poking fun at the lengths advertisers will go to to promote their products? Or were you saying they shouldn't do that? If not, why not? It may seem ridiculous but it must be effective or they wouldn't do it, right?
Credibility, not hyperbole, is the currency of promotion. If you don't believe it, you don't buy it. And, if the source distorts one thing, you pretty well know that will be the case with the rest. The Dodge Swinger is a good example of killing a product with incongruent branding.
Post a Comment