Okay, so I missed this one when it aired Super Bowl Sunday. It's pretty insufferable. I'd still like to taste Neal McDonough's "exceptionalism," though.
Cadillac ad gets some backlash
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
It's totally in tune with his politics.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
He gives me the willies. I never knew that commercial was for Cadillac until last night, because last night was the first time I saw it when I was watching something I didn't time-shift.
Is he the actor who wouldn't kiss another woman because she wasn't his actual wife? And there was a mini-kerfuffle in the press?
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
Playing someone who kisses people is against his religious beliefs. Playing someone who kills other people is not.
Hmmmmm. So there's no chance he'll kiss me, then?
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
My problem with what I feel this advertisement says is that if you work real hard you will have a beautiful house, kids, a good car (because there is no denying that a Cadillac is a good car) and absolutely no time to enjoy any of these things. That somehow 4 weeks vacation makes you a worse worker and contributor than someone who takes 2 weeks or less.
That its all about work, work, work.
The old adage is true however. No one ever said, "Gee, I wish I'd spent more time at the office." on his deathbed.
The ad had so much potential. I remember being intrigued by what the actor was selling during the spot. Neal is perfectly cast as self-assured, barrel-chested, man's man with the hottie of a wife, cute kids, and the spoils of victory. But, the spot is a bit too in-your-face presenting Neal as Dubya-Meets-Bond in the worst possible way.
I swear at the end of the advert I instantly had thoughts of Dubya's mission accomplished debacle. And the "n'est pas" quip at the end was a bit smug.
The spot could have worked with Neal as more statesman and less Dubya.
"The spot could have worked with Neal as more statesman and less Dubya."
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've taken to reading the Wall Street Journal in an attempt to understand how the "Others" think.
The ad was **perfectly** calibrated for their target audience. Those folks have no more respect for/interest in a "statesman-like" posture than they do the folks camping out in Zucotti park.
The problem is not that the tone was too self-satisfied, too bombastic or preached too heavily about the 'Work Ethic'.
Cadillac's problem is crystallized in the fact that--as alluded to in the OP's linked article--any time the WSJ Auto section reviews a GM product, the vitriolic comments from their target buyers fly about "Government Motors".
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