this :60 spot has begun to air for chevrolet from the san francisco agency of goodby, silverstein & partners. it debuts the new “theme line” (chevy brass insist it isn’t a “tagline”) for the brand, “chevy runs deep.” ad age reports today that criticism of the ad is itself beginning to run deep. watch the spot above and judge for yourself. what is it promising about the brand?
what’s most bothersome about it is that the tagline is a let down to what is a heart warming, inspiring ad. in the spot, we’re taken through time and reminded that there is something very, very special about our american character. and just when we’re getting a little weepy eyed, chevy drops a completely flat tagline on us: “chevy runs deep.” seriously? that’s supposed to hit home? that’s supposed to provide us that emotional punch in the gut that makes the spot all the more memorable?
equally flaccid is the msnbc “lean forward” tagline that jon stewart lampooned on his “the daily show.” watch the :60 msnbc spot below (directed by spike lee). like the chevy ad, the msnbc spot wants to inspire us, it wants to instill in us that there is something special about being us, about our trials and tribulations. then, at the end, it asks us to “lean forward.” that’s it? lean forward? it sounds weak.
the lesson here is that taglines must live up to the expectations of the viewer. if the ad inspires, so must the tagline; otherwise there is no sense of narrative consistency between the execution and the tagline it’s associated with.
Thanks for the comment over on The Portland Egotist. We actually find Lean Forward a bit more compelling than Chevy Runs Deep, though we’re willing to give Chevy’s line some time. Lean Forward touches on civic involvement as well as public involvement in new creation today.
Thanks for the comment, The Portland Egotist! And thanks for visiting our site–we’re honored!
Oh one more thing … while we appreciate Portland Egotist’s position, we think it’s way off the mark. For something that “touches” on civic engagement, “lean” is far too passive of an activity. Jump? Move? Leap? These are MUCH more active verbs to associate with something as compelling as “civic engagement.” And while we don’t necessarily think that jump, move or leap work well with “forward,” the fact remains that leaning is far too weak of a word. MSNBC could have done far better.
[...] Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is on one hell of a roll. Following some memorable spots for Chevrolet and General Motors––which, despite their goodness, drew the ire of advertising flacks and [...]
[...] Some blogs, especially the vast expanse of Egotist, simply re-post advertising news. I take the time to find original stuff and comment on it, even offering you some analysis of it (as I’ve done with Advil, and most recently, Chevy). [...]