Jul. 11 - Trucks Trucks Trucks Trucks *breath* Trucks Trucks Trucks
Dallas is known for a lot of things. Highway 635. Killing the president. That show "Dallas". But, most importantly, the city is notorious for its annoying and numerous truck dealership advertisements. The promotional credo of all these businesses seems to be that the more screeching and migraine-inducing the ad, the more the customer will want to plop down an $11,888+ investment at the drop of a hat. Some may see a flaw in this belief, though despite gas hovering at around $2.90 a gallon, residents seem more than willing to purchase these symbols of raw masculinity (see my previous article on the matter for additional cliche observations).
For the most part, local truck commercials have remained as a largely home-grown undertaking. That is, until Rodeo Ford dug deep into their marketing pockets and decided to shell out the big bucks. Pulling out all the stops, Rodeo brought in Blazing Saddles' Burton Gilliam to take the helm for their new ad campaign.
As you can see, Burton blew the lid off of the Dallas/Fort Worth truck world with his fresh new approach. His changes were numerous, but consisted primarily of dressing up like a cowboy, dancing around like an imbecile, sputtering monosyllabic shibboleths with unnerving enthusiasm, and making facial expressions akin to a victim of irritable bowel syndrome. Individually, these tactics are nothing new, but Gilliam combined them with such seasoned aplomb, in a way that only the Colt Gun Salesman from Back to the Future III could, the result was unremittingly persuasive.
Or so we thought.
With the runaway success of Rodeo's campaign, competitors soon seized upon the dancing cowboy/70s neverwas genre, as a parody hit the airwaves.
So, Middlekauff Ford enters the mix, eh? Ingenious. Middlekauff realized the unstoppable juggernaut that is Burton Gilliam, and decided to latch on for as long as they could. Instead of simple imitation, these wannabes opted for a different approach, known as the AIUD Formula, originally implemented by Dave Auid Nissan Kia Subaru in Somerset, Kentucky.
Acknowledge how annoying the ads are.
Imitate them anyway.
Use rigid, talentless actors.
Destroy the competition!
Though obvious, this tried and true stratagem is truck commercial gold. Middlekauff knew this, spending nearly $4.8 million on the 30-second spot, with the full intention of making it look as shoddy and amateurish as possible. All this money was well-spent, resulting in the cheapest-looking truck commercial in decades. This, of course, brings in droves of customers, who can't wait to lay down the cash for their new Middlekauff Ford car or truck. In fact, I'm off to pick up my F-350. See ya!
Posted by Nick Nobel
