FWIW – Car commercials that disturb me for different reasons.

The current commercial for KIA’s winter sale called Kia Fest is so disturbing in how really bad it is. Set inside a dealership, badly dancing sales people, all in the same logo wear clothes, sing “So Long, Farewell” from the Sound of Music. They destroy a great Rogers and Hammerstein song from an even greater Broadway play and Academy Award winning movie. Meant to motivate the car buyer to get to the dealership before all the cars are sold, it is a lame production that repels me, not attracts me to Kia. Is there a chance that you will walk into a Kia dealership and encounter anyone so overjoyed to the point of song? I don’t think so. I say “so long, farewell” as I pass the dealership on the highway in my Scion.

Now for a disturbingly good commercial. Volkswagen has created a commercial that in my mind has a dual purpose. Two guys are having a conversation while driving in their Jetta down a suburban street in Anywhere, USA. Not paying attention to the road, an aided by excellent editing, the car t-bones another vehicle passing through an intersection. Whoa! Airbags deploy, horrible noises and …go to the VW Website and see the commercial for yourself. If you have ever been in a serious car accident when the airbags deploy you might want to cover your eyes when watching this commercial. I’ve been that unfortunate and jumped (literally) out of my seat the first time I saw it on TV. VW is sending a powerful message about their cars and safety. The commercial works almost too well.

Bottom line, the Kia commercial is remarkably bad. The VW commercial is remarkable!

FWIW