Commercials can be funny, serious, really stupid, really awesome, or most of the time, just annoying. Yet, we all know that commercials have a way of getting people to buy stuff, even if some of them are just ridiculous.
Manufacturers spend millions of dollars per year advertising their goods to the public so they will hopefully get millions more back. In the automotive industry, marketing is key to selling a product in one of the most difficult industries in which to sell.
Few vehicle commercials are meant to be funny, though a few are. Manufacturers usually focus on the informational side of things to disseminate the most about a vehicle in an allotted time. But, in doing so, there always seems to be some funny things about so many different commercials when you really stop and think about it.
With that in mind, here are some of the funniest things that manufacturers sneak into their vehicle ads that most normal people won’t even notice or won’t car about.
The Engine Noise:
The Ford Focus, the Toyota Camry, the Honda Pilot… these vehicles are not designed to be loud, nor do these vehicles have a V8 engine.
However…
When you see commercials with vehicles like these, and you listen to what’s going on behind the commentator, you can sometimes hear the growl of a V8 engine – or at least a V6 – snarling away quite loudly in the background.
This doesn’t happen in every commercial or for every vehicle with a four-cylinder engine, but it happens enough that you should listen more intently to more vehicle ads.
The Environment:
The new Hyundai Palisade is a midsize crossover SUV with three rows. It is built mainly to transport a family of four or more from place to place in comfort and quite a bit of luxury for its price point. Though it isn’t really a luxury SUV, it has received wonderful reviews from critics about how nice and good of a vehicle it really is.
So…
If I were to buy one, I know for sure that the first thing I would do is take it Wyoming and drive it through the open fields, dirt roads, and gullies that naturally exist over the wide open rural landscape.
Actually, very few people – if any – would do that with a brand new $40,000 SUV that isn’t really made for that. But, one Hyundai’s commercials definitely suggests that this is a possibility.
Vehicle commercials do this all the time with vehicles that won’t really be placed into the environments in which they are advertised. Most people know that, but it does add some cool effects and gets the point across about what the vehicle can do… or at least what it could potentially do.
Of course, the Palisade is just one example, but it’s easy to find more ads like it.
The Surprise:
Did you know your vehicle has wheels, a windshield, and an engine?
Apparently some people don’t because some vehicle commercials showcase buyers who are just blown away by the fact that their brand new vehicle has any features at all.
Ok, ok… maybe it’s not that bad, but things like Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, heated seats, a turbocharged engine, and a touchscreen infotainment system are becoming normal in most vehicles. It should no longer be such a shock that these things exist on a widespread scale within the automotive industry.
Either people are completely oblivious to the most basic automotive industry technological advances, or vehicle commercials are just emphasizing their features just a little too much. I would love to think that it’s the latter.
The Awards:
This is one of the funniest ones to me.
It makes sense that vehicle manufacturers want to show the public how many accolades their models have. Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, the IIHS’ top Safety Pick Awards, and Kelley Blue Book’s Best Family Sedan for the money are all great things to have.
J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality award, The Car Magazine’s Car of the Year Award, and Uncle Billy’s Best Truck award are not awards that necessarily back up anything the vehicle has to offer. It’s great that these awards exist – though I’m pretty sure the last two don’t – but none really speak to how good a vehicle actually is.
Stick to the big boys on this one, and maybe chuckle a little bit next time you hear that the Fiat 500 just earned Mr. Auto’s Best Drive Up and Down the Street Award for Small Vehicles.
The Ridiculous Props:
Saab is no more. Their vehicles were pretty interesting and really not that bad, especially considering that they had been an airplane manufacturer before a vehicle manufacturer.
As such, their advertisements included their jet fighters, showing you absolutely nothing about the vehicles themselves except that a fighter jet’s DNA lived somewhere deep within the vehicle itself.
Cool? Maybe…
Accurate? No…
Jet fighters, animals, talking hamsters, heavy machinery… the list goes on and on for things that have appeared in tangent with a certain vehicle. Few of these things have real connections to the vehicles themselves, and some really are quite funny.
Vehicle commercials are everywhere we look, and there is more humor in many of them than meets the eye.
So, next time you see one, take a second and try to look at the funny side of advertising. And, since there are so many new ones coming out all the time, make sure to look for the next great thing in vehicle commercial humor.
