The Chevrolet commercial shown above was released in early July of this year but is still played during commercial airtime. It is part of a series of commercials created by Chevrolet under the theme "TheNewIndependance to advertise their new car, the Chevrolet Cruze. This commercial shows the passenger in the Cruze showing off his high tech phone that is, "the first of its kind," feeling embarrassed when he finds out the car he is in has 4g connectability, thus making it much cooler than his new phone that he's trying to show off. The driver seems happy when her passenger discovers how amazing her car is and how truly "first of its kind" it is for having built in 4g LTE wi-fi.
This commercial seems relevant to what we have been discussing in class and what I covered in my paper, because it shows that one of the main reasons people buy is to stay on trend and how advertisers exploit that desire. People will always want the most relevant items, not because they need them but because they want to stay current and own the best things available. Certainly no driver needs the additional distractions that come with having wi-fi in a car, but that added feature is a good selling point to make it seem like buyers are getting something truly revolutionary. The use of the term "the first of its kind" emphasizes how crucial it is for buyers to start buying the new car soon so they can be at the start of the new wi-fi car trend.
Generally, at the end of car commercials there will be very brief coverage of information on the advertised car's mpg, pricing, or other key features, but Chevrolet doesn't include any other information at the end of this one. Maybe because they wanted to only pay for a 30second air time or maybe because they know that the most understandable selling point to consumers will be the wi-fi. The average consumer may not know how mpg compares or if the car is good for the starting price, but once they find out that they are buying a revolutionary car with wi-fi they'll immediately be attracted to it and compelled to buy because they already know they love having wi-fi on their laptops and other devices and the idea of having it in their car too can be exciting. Do you think it was smart of Chevrolet to construct cars with built in wi-fi or is it an added feature that will end up doing more harm than good?
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAhcdxo0D2Q&list=UUSVpCNZzOeMekuMiFze3fnQ
That's such a great point, I hadn't even noticed that they really did nothing to sell the car except for the fact that it has wifi. That's a bold move on their part, but quiet frankly it just might work. Thousands of people flock to buy the latest iphones for what? A true revolutionary device? Not likely, they flock for bragging rights. Chevy is certainly hopping people will do the exact same thing with their cars.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore I do think it is a very dangerous thing to add to cars. Firstly driving is already a very hazardous activity as texting and driving has become such a rampant issue, I think adding another distraction like wifi at your finger tips only increases the chance of doing dangerous things while driving. Finally the idea that we need wifi cars at all is dangerous in another way entirely. It's not enough that we have it in our homes, on our phones, and in a majority of the places we go, but now we can't even survive without wifi getting from one wifi location to another. It's a danger to our reasoning, we'll now reason for wifi and connection to our precious internet anywhere and everywhere it seems, and I don't know if that's more sad or terrifying quite frankly.