I try to avoid advertising as much as is possible. And pretty much ignore anything that leaks through the barriers.
However, recently I stumbled across a commercial that, at first, I thought had to be a film from Saturday Night Live. Such a stupid, tone-deaf, over-the-top ad like that just had to be one of their classic parodies.1 Right?
Evidently not.
The ad opens on a long view of the Earth, with a serious-sounding narrator telling the viewer “We aren’t building electric vehicles because it’s trendy. We’re building them to make a difference. To protect our future. And our children’s future. We’re building electric vehicles to save our planet.”
All of this accompanied by hopeful music and positive images.
And then… the narrator shifts to ranting at full volume.
“To save it… from all those lame, soulless, weak-looking, self-driving sleep pods everyone else keeps polluting our streets with.”
Cue the video of some idiot driving what looks to be an updated version of a 60’s-era overpowered V-8 gas-guzzler, squealing around corners, doing donuts in a parking lot, and speeding along dark, wet city streets.
Sadly, this a serious sales pitch for Dodge. A car company that lost relevance decades ago and which most people don’t even realize is still in business.2
They’re selling a $70,000 manifestation of a video game vehicle (not clear if the muscle-car sounds in the ad are actually produced by the vehicle itself) for a small (hopefully) audience of guys with too much money who still long for a cliched high school experience.
Maybe not an SNL digital short, but certainly unintentional self-parody. I assume.
A car like that Dodge needs dice looped around the mirror to make the cliche complete. The photo was taken at the annual classic car show in Old Town Alexandria where at least they’re dealing in history.
1. I’m not going to link to the ad. If you really want to see it, search YouTube for “Dodge save the planet”.
2. Stellantis, the current owner of Dodge and other retro American vehicle brands like Chrysler and Jeep, is not in great financial shape.