can anyone explain why this is funny?
have any of you seen the idiotic new chrysler ads? here's the idea: jason alexander walks into his boss's office and says "hey, remember how you asked me to research chrysler?" and the boss says "yeah" and jason alexander starts reading headlines off of newspapers, talking about the new deal that's going on, and then the boss (who turns out to be lee iacocca) says "yadda yadda yadda. you forgot the best part - the deal!" and jason alexander says "i say, if you can find a better car, buy it."
you can watch it here, (third one down)
it's the least funny thing ever. i can't even comprehend who thought this was funny. first of all, i had no idea that the guy even was lee iacocca until i went onto the chrylser website to get that link to the commercial. second, apparently "if you can find a better car, buy it" is apparently some famous iacocca tagline. are we supposed to remember this? in fact, here's how totally out of our generation's consciousness iacocca is. i remember my parents having a biography of iacocca on the bookshelf we had when i was like seven. which means that he had already had a career worth biographing by 1988! plus, they got it at the library book sale, which means it had been out long enough that someone bought it then gave it away by 1988! who remembers that? unless they're marketing solely to 50-year-olds, which is stupid.
and, why did they choose jason alexander for this? obviously he's supposed to be rehashing his incompetent worker role, but it just doesn't work.
ugh.
posted by stefanie @ 6:29 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I've always confused Lee Iaccoca with John Sununu. I don't know why. They have nothing to do with one another.
you know, i think i have too! isn't that bizarre? perhaps it's because of the similarity of sununu to isuzu? it's also similar to sunoco, furthering the car connection, but that can't be it. if i have any revelations, i'll let you know.
i have also always confused clint eastwood with robert redford.
I have not seen the ads, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Jason Alexander in them. His career has gone so far down the toilet since Seinfeld. He tries too hard.
Does anyone remember Kirk Kerkorian, that rich dude who had something to do with buying stocks of car companies? I thought of him when you guys were talking about Iococca and Sununu.
what about paul tsongas? he also hada funny name.
Stefanie-
Let me just tell you that you are totally in tune with what the scholarly marketing and greater advertising community feels about the effectiveness of these ads. They have even pulled a second related ad from some markets wherein Lee Iaccocoa is hiding behind a newspaper talking to some 4 year old. At any rate, it is not connecting with the 18-28 year old market and most people see "if you can find a better car buy it " a statement of fact rather than a challenge.
~Marketing dork-Jessica Young
yes! PLUS, even though i was so annoyed by the commercial that i could remember every dumb, unfunny detail of the dialogue, i had no idea which car company the stupid commercial was for and ended up having to google "if you can find a better car, buy it" to even find out it was chrysler. isn't that the whole freaking point of a commercial?
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