Saturday, November 13, 2010

Chrysler Commercial - - > A minivan for nerdy kids

I don't get to see much TV, and when I do, I tend to skip the commercials. However, if I have it on at the gym while I'm on a treadmill, there's really no way to escape them regardless of how fast I run.

On a number of occasions I've seen this commercial for a Chrysler minivan. And it's a commercial that's been really really bothering me. Not because it's deceiving, and not because it's way too loud or features some other kind of crazy concepts conjured up in a Don Draper vision.

This commercial has been edited and re-dubbed in an illogical way. It makes absolutely no sense, presents us with images that cannot connect with the story being told, and I feel it implies that everyone watching it is too dumb to notice.

Here's the offending commercial, or at least part of it. I couldn't find a full clip on YouTube, maybe because Chrysler feels so guilty about thinking we're stupid that they're trying to erase it from existence:



Anyway, the beginning of the commercial has a voice over from a kid saying, 'Hey Parker, I'll race you home' Or something to that effect.

However, it's fairly obvious from the video, that kid isn't racing anybody, he's trying to get the hell away from those punks who are going to beat him up!

A more complete version of the ad shows the kid hiding behind a tree, and when he does actually throw himself into the trunk of the conveniently placed van, it's clear he's just happy to be alive.

At no point, was it a race among friends. That kid is a nerd. And those kids wanted to beat him up (which implies they're jocks, the nerds' natural enemy)

Anyway. I'm guessing someone at Chrysler with a beat up kid saw the ad and was like, 'Um, guys, this is a terrible message. Unless we're selling to the parents of kids who get their ass kicked every day'

So they changed it, but they changed it for about five cents by re-dubbing the first line and keeping the rest of the commercial as is.

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