HUMMER TV Ads
 

HUMMER TV Ads Aim To Unveil "Surprising Truths" About The Midsize HUMMER H3

General Motors Corp.
8/11/2006 3:08:30 PM

2006-08-11 - DETROIT -- HUMMER next week introduces a series of new television ads intended to continue the momentum of the H3 launch and convey some ?surprising truths? about that vehicle. The ads play up the H3?s fun factor, while also touting its smaller size, maneuverability, low price and fuel efficiency.


?Escape? tells the story of three office friends who go to great lengths to escape the daily grind of their cubicle-filled office on a quest for fun outdoors in their HUMMER H3. The spot was inspired by the epic 1963 adventure film "The Great Escape," featuring the legendary Steve McQueen. Movie aficionados will recognize tributes to the film, including the use of the movie?s original music score and an appearance by McQueen?s son.


?The goal of ?Escape? was to show how the H3 inspires people to break free from their hectic and confined daily routine,? explains Megan Stooke, HUMMER marketing director. ?Anyone who works in an office environment can see themselves in these characters? shoes, and may aspire to be more adventurous from time to time. The H3 owner knows how much more is out there in life and is compelled to explore beyond everyday horizons ? they can?t be confined by physical and mental boundaries.?


Those with a keen eye will be amused by details in the ad which show the desk jockeys? resourcefulness ? their escape tools were fashioned from everyday office supplies. A dummy made of envelopes with a box for a head and staplers for hands sits at a desk, so as not to draw attention to one worker?s absence. The three covertly exit their office through the ceiling, on a ladder made only of pencils, paper clips and rubber bands. They slither through the overhead air vents on creepers (the type used by auto mechanics) made of folding chairs on roller wheels, using packs of pencils as oars to propel themselves along.


In the end, the trio flees the oppression of their office building and makes a desperate sprint for a black H3. Fred McQueen plays a guard at a security booth who witnesses the escape. The tagline ?Escape Greatly? plays off the movie?s title. ?Escape? begins airing on premium network and cable programs across the U.S. on August 14.


?It?s Not Magic? uses humor to illustrate some ?surprising truths? about the H3. This campaign will consist of several TV spots and broadband streaming video. The first four spots ?Parking Garage,? ?Home,? ?Briefcase? and ?Gas Station? air nationwide on August 17. The broadband video aspect of the campaign will launch later this month.


?It?s Not Magic? seeks to dispel myths surrounding the H3 ? reinforcing that it is smaller, more affordable, easy to maneuver and is better than or comparable to other midsize SUV?s in its fuel efficiency. All of the TV ads feature an illusionist who tries to make the ordinary acts of parking a truck and passing a gas station into impressive feats of magic. The viewing audience is let in on the joke as the title cards reveal, ?It?s not magic. It?s the midsize H3.?


The magician featured in the spots is Daniel Chesterfield, a character created by Chris Van den Durpel, a celebrated Belgian comedian. The character of Chesterfield pokes fun at the overtly dramatic performances of professional magicians. He is frequently featured on Van den Durpel?s TV show ?Chris & co.? in Belgium. More information on the comedian is available at www.chrisenco.be.


?Parking Garage? and ?Home? show off the H3?s smaller size, as it easily maneuvers into a low-clearance parking structure and small home garage. Chesterfield wildly gestures as the H3 parks, as if he is working his magic to allow the H3 to fit into these limited spaces. In reality, the truck is simply an efficient size that allows it to manage these ?feats? without difficulty.


?Briefcase? shows Chesterfield magically transforming a briefcase full of (not so much) money into a Victory Red H3. ?Gas Station? demonstrates the H3?s surprising fuel efficiency, showing it bypass a gas station without stopping for fuel, again with the feigned assistance of Chesterfield ?s magic. The H3 gets up to 20 miles per gallon on the highway. All of the new HUMMER TV spots were created by Modernista! of Boston. Modernista has been HUMMER?s agency since 2001.


About HUMMER


HUMMER is a division of General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world?s largest vehicle manufacturer, which employs about 321,000 people globally. The HUMMER product line-up consists of the H2, H2 SUT, H3 and the H3 x. There are 173 HUMMER dealers nationwide.

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Sounds funny. I'll have to look for it.

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They sound better than the ones airing now ... the vegan guy who wants to be manly again .. and the mom at the playground who's not going to take playground abuse anymore. :p I like the originals best .. but these new ones could be promising. :D

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Hummer commercials are still above average, but just barely. I'm looking forward to the new ones.

S.

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dont get the current HUMMER ads, glad to see a change coming:confused:

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I've enjoyed the mom and the vegitarian commercial. LMAO during them. The new ones do sound better.

At a Wendy's drive through window a few weeks back I had a lady pop here head out the window (and half her upper body), look the truck over from one end to the other and said that trucks not so big. It looks bigger on the highway looking up from my car. I said yeah it looks bigger than it is.

My daughter took one of her friends home one night. Over an hour later she comes back saying her friend loved the ride. Her friend asked my daughter how she felt when she drove it. My daughters response.... Like I'm the queen of the road.

I have noticed in Utah I'm more likely to get rotten looks because the truck is dirty than I am because I drive a Hummer.
That reminds me.... Time to run some trails. Here come some more dirty looks. Oh Well.:D

Hummer; Like Nothing Else.

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i would still like to see at least one commercial of the H3 on something other than asphalt.

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Then you'd love the ones currently airing here (at least in California right now) .. the 'healthy eater' and the playground mom. They are pretty good, for a change. The originals (Goldilocks is our favorite) show Hummer attitude. :cool: I still like the originals, so far. :D

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Anything but the "Get your girl on" ads. I get so much **** from some of my friends from that commercial!!

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Just saw the Escape ad, it was pretty good.

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Me too. GM did a great job and spent millions creating the best new 4x4 since the Toyota FJ, and their marketing virtually ignores it. I think the current ads that basically pitch the H3 as little more than an artificial dick are pathetic and will backfire.

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hummer should go to vdubs marketing agency to get some creative funny **** going

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I think the ads are becoming more like the VW ads, not sure if that's a good thing. I'll watch the new ones to see.

S.

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vdub ads are so damn creative and usually funny. i enjoy watching them.

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It should be good as far as the H3's sales numbers -- since most people get their news from newspaper commentaries, it'll be good to see another side represented for once..

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I just saw one of the new Hummer tv commercials. Afterwards, I viewed all 5 on Hummer.com. In my opinion, I'm disappointed. If I had to say I enjoyed one of them, I would pick, "Gas Station". In that one they say, "They said it could never be done .... 20 miles to the gallon from a Hummer." Too much going on in "Escape" with the frantic office. And, in "The Low-Clearance Garage" .. the H3 looks so small moving under the parking garage arm (can't think of the name of that thing). I wonder if they used large props to make that commercial ... hmmm. They are clearly making it clear that the H3 is a mid-size SUV, which is fine. But, it makes the H3 look so small. Anyone else see the new commercials yet? What do you think? Only the "Gas Station" commercial addresses the better gas consumption. :rolleyes:

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I just saw the magic one.


Twas really Ghey. :( I like the old ones with the music and nature.

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Yeah, the new ones are GAY! haha. I like the one where it fits in the garage because I actually understand what they're getting at (the home garage, not the parking garage). The one where the $29,500 turns into an H3 is pretty amusing too, though just kinda dumb. I didn't understand the parking garage one, and the gas station one was vague as well. I mean, I read that press release last week at www.media.gm.com so I knew what was coming. I was a bit excited.

As for the Tofu and Playground, those are pretty good I think. HOWEVER, I would like to see a return to the commercials that feature OFF-ROAD DRIVING!!!! I'm EXTREMELY aggitated to see that there is so little off-road action, because they estimate that 35% of owners will actually go off-road, so why not show the H3 OFF-ROAD?

I mean, how hard is it really to show the vehicle doing what it's designed to do? Show us the departure/approach/breakover angles. Show the car climbing rock walls. Show it fording water, lifting tires, doing those pothole things. And then show it pulling out of this extreme off-roading and dropping the kids off at the mall or the movies if you want to cater to the on-road crowd as well. Hummer advertising CONTINOUSLY makes me ANGRY, very ANGRY!

:D:D:D I wish there had been an opportunity at Homecoming to speak to the advertising guys like we had the chance to give comments to the engineering folks....

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We saw Briefcase tonight and it was pretty bad. I feel sorry for you guys.

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I think this WOULD make the perfect commercial .. covering BOTH sides!!

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X2

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Saw the "Magician" spot. Bad. But not as bad as the previous "Restore the Balance" spots.

IMO, Hummer marketing is doing more harm than good. Almost every promo I've seen reinforces the negative view of Hummer as a pointless image-building toy for perpetual adolescents. Kinda pisses me off that Hummer thinks so little of their customers.

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modernista sucks and so does their spots.

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why cant they make a cool one like the guys that go fishing and he throws one to the bear? that would be sweet

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Because they are trying to reach an audience (hippies and liberals) that would not undestand that kind of commercial.:D

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Hmm, these are dumb, but you get the point. People of lower intelligence would probably love them.

I want off-roading action, with some metal music, little technical diagrams overlaying the features of the vehicle off-road. Then I want the H2/H3 to pull out of the woods, two people step out with black tie wear on, and head into the symphony. The tag "No Compromises"

This ad details different off-road features on the beach, showing clearance and traction systems. Shows the H3 at the beach with a buddy and his Jeep or FJ like thing. They're telling a story around a camp fire, the FJ guy neglecting to mention being pulled out of a rut earlier in the day (which the video is showing while detailing the H3 abilities while it frees the heep). The H3 owner just smirks. Tag: "Save Your Friends"

Another detailing the ablities, woman trying to find her way to the soccer field, kids in the back, gets lost. She travels down this back road, it turns into a natural obstacle course. Kids look scared yet excited. Mom is trying to drive in the rain not noticing where she is, performing H3 specs with ease. Plows through the bushes concealing an old road into the parking lot at the sports complex, completely muddy and covered with limbs. Children on field come running. Mom parks and the kids hop out all excited. Mom looks at car and is stunned. Tag: "Upgrade to Adventure Mom"

H3 with group of friends following a Humvee convoy. Guys at the entrance to training course want to play a trick on them. Funnel the H3 into the testing grounds. H3 drives through course, everyone looking quite worried, and then as it performs just fine, looking more excited. They finish, and the men come over and say "Nice Ride!" and look like they want a ride. The friends smile, and you see the H3 driving again on the course with the military guys in the back seat having a good time. Tag: "100% HUMMER"

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Hey AUBS! These are GREAT ideas! Your earlier one, too .. I was thinking about that one all day .. could have the tag line, "You can do it all in a Hummer." I think you should send these ideas to someone trustworthy (:rolleyes: ) at GM/Hummer advertising. Seriously. I think you hit the nail on the head. These would whet the general publics appetite for the H3. Great ideas, AUBS! :D

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yah dump the get you're gir on ads and lets see some off road action.

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x2...send to GM advertisng ...:)

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Thanks! :) So Fstop, who do we contact? :D

Maybe you'll like this one too. A bit complicated perhaps.

Another one: Guy wakes up, wife still sleeping. Goes into the bathroom, starts getting ready. Phone rings, he picks it up, Dave asks for a ride to work. "Ok, I'll be there in 20 minutes." Guy goes back into bathroom, starts brushing his teeth, phone rings again. Wife picks it up after short debate. "Yeah, he can give you a ride." Man looks confused. Starts shaving, and phone rings again. He picks it up and it's someone else asking for a ride to work. "Yeah, why not, everyone else is going with me. What's going on anyway?" *Haven't you looked outside yet?* Guy peers through curtains, huge smile. "Oh... (excited) I'll be there in 15 minutes!" We see the garage door open, H3 starting up. Radio turns on. "We got hit hard last night, road crews are having trouble keeping the roads open. Snow will continue into today. Guess you'll need something like a Hummer to get into work today..." As the radio announcer talks, we see the H3 plow through the end of the driveway, and pull into the snowcovered street. People with their cars are out shovelling away, looking disturbed. H3 plows through drifts, and stops down the street as someone comes running out and hops in car. "Hey, thanks for the ride!" Tag: "Everyday Rescue"

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E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T!!!! Aubs, you know what they need to get the REAL word out about the H3! I hope you run with these before someone else does. Don't lose your momentum! :D

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Yeah those are good ideas Aubs!

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Found the "not magic" adsonline. Here are 3 of the ads.
http://jalopnik.com/cars/gm/ad-watch...ads-194390.php
The gas station one is stupid, but the garage one is ok.

You know, I think these ads are going to work well in Europe whenever they launch the H3 there. The ad styling and humor are very European and Chris van den Durpel is famous there ... but we're not in Europe. We need ads like what Aubs came up with.

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Found the ad with the chair dance. Definitely trying to appeal to the urban mod set who will never drive offroad.

http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningro...mercials/1783/

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Damn, are you a marketing/advertising person? If so, guess I'll have to change my mind about what I think of most of those "people," and stop making sly comments about them on this forum.
Those are excellent, and something Hummer needs, not just for the H3, but for all the "H's".
I'm not sure who to contact since I stay as far away from the marketing/advertising people as possible, but I'll tell you what, I'll do some checking.

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Oh great, just realized all the ads are out on the Hummer site :rolleyes:

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Aubs, those are great! Maybe a long thread with lots of supporters would help back up your case if you get to talk to them...Chime in follks.

I also think the FJ magazine adds are good. The ones with all of the pictures at Rubicon or tellico or moab and then the explaination of one of their engeneering feats in each add. FJ's are getting embraced by the 4x4 community better than the H3 even though it is IFS (inferior front suspension:D ), weakly powered, low gound clearance, ****ty tire havin lifted mini cooper. Stock v Stock the H3 has a the edge in almost all comparisons IMO due to wheelbase, clearance, tires, interior space, looks,versatility.

They dont seem to talk to much sh!t about H2's and H3's, but they never boast about their extrordinary capabilites. They are all drooling over the FJ, (building them up, etc.) and I belive the marketing helped the old school crowd (solid axle V8 brute force guys) lend a more accepting eye to the here-to-stay IFS rigs that are now very capabale. Its good overall for the perception of IFS rigs as real trail rigs, but no thanks to HUMMER.

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One reason I belive they dont do many bare bones off roading ads is because they dont want it to be too Jeep like. They try to put the Attitiude into the ads, which may have been cool in 2003-2004, but to me is not cool anymore.

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haha those are funny. they are making progress

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Great ideas Aubs!! Those are the types of commercials I've been wanting to see since day one. GM, LISTEN UP!! :mad: