Tel

Tony Whitney
Conzvibuting Calumuist

I suppose that TV car
commercials are some-
thing you can either love
or hate and f have to
confess chat I do have
miy favourites.

TV ad spots I never tire of
include those wonderful “Lean
on Me” Chevrolet truck com-
mercials — though [ admit
that the song has a lor to do
with it.

For some reason, | never
fail to raise a sraile when Paul
“Crocodile Dundee” Hogan
evades those bad guys in his
Subaru Outback and the
Nissan spot wih GI Joe and
his sports car was a classic that
will endure long after the pro-
moted product fades from
memury.

Other standouts for me
include the Honda commer-
cials with racer Alex Zanardi
and 4 current series of spots
promoting che Liacain LS.

Soamedmes good television
advertising can turn an
automaker around completely
(ask Subaru) and whatever was
spent, the exercise was worth
every penny.

Of course, there are always
ads that grate, and ones that
spring to my mind include
those U.S. deafer promos
invelving guys with white
cowboy hats and faithful dogs
just the kind of image the
industry is probably trying to
shed.

Television ads can cost as
much to make as B movies
(sometimes more) and there
are lots of people around who
ask whether we wouldn’t all be
far better off if automakers
simply slashed TV ad spending
and reduced car prices,

Unfortunately, it doesn’t

quite work that way,

Automakers keep prices davs, starting at @ 2.
vans and trucks in large val
immes and those TV ads heip
keep the numbers ep.

Cur back on advertising,
and sales would stump with a
Comsequent rise im prices --- it’s
that simple.

Precentiv had a chance to
see trom the tiside a full-line
{all products? TV commercial
being sher in Vancouver tor a
major auramaker.

The scale of the operation
was amazing, and ('m sure that
most folk who happened by
thought we were invelved in 4
full-scale movie shoot.

Streets were controlled by
police hired for the occasion
while the featured vehicles
were driven by and there was
even a set-dressing crew cover
ing fire hydrants and other

“unsightly” street furniture
with artificial shrubs.

A big water tanker drove
up and down benveen shots to
create those reflective, glossy
streets so beloved of car com-
mercial directors.

In all, a crew of 60 was
invelved, many of thent local
speciatists involved in the film
business.

A complex and sophisticat-
ed camera vehicle was shipped
up from California, as was a
team: of car-care experts spe-
cializing in film shoots.

The vehicles were all pre-
production models with very
delicate finishes and not at all
intended for ultimate sate, so
the car-car folk guarded them
like religious artifacts.

The whole process must
have cost a fortune and the
atmosphere throughout was all
that [ imagined “Hollywood
North” to be — right down to
a crusty director who squab-
bled ceaselessly with his “sec-
ond in command.”

on ume,

. AC, AAPM ES
Power windows/lacks
Anirers, Cross *

The ream was atit for tour
a. cach
down by manufacturing curs; morning and, according to my
imormation, evervihing ended
up happily ander budget and

The Maincouver shoot was

control, Tit steating =

only part of the process associ
dared with developing major
aut commercial,

Subsequent work would
have invelved post production
edinng, music, voice overs and
all kinds of other massaging,

betore the spots were deemed
fit to air at prime time --
another huge cost factor.

Ir

trouble jusc co sell cars, but it
does help the wheels of auto-
Motive commerce go round.

im car ads Keep prices d

And the production did
ieave a great deal of money
behind in Vancou er.
seem an awtul for ot — Tony Whitney's column
appears courtesy of the B.C.
Autasnobils Deater’s
Alsuetation

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