This AWD XJ Went Where No Jag Has Gone Before

As winter gets closer in the Northern Hemisphere, an all-wheel drive car may not seem such a bad idea for those regions where snow and ice are a constant presence during the cold months.

By introducing an all-wheel drive system on its XF and XJ luxury sedans, Jaguar has managed to appeal to customers in those areas where an all-wheel drive car is, if not a must, something certainly welcome.

However, I can’t imagine how a car can still function at temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius. My lack of technical background surely has something to do with it, but I find it highly remarkable that a posh Jaguar XJ can get to the Arctic Circle without no problems. It’s good to know your car can do that.

I have to say this is my favorite type of promotional video: it is a mix of very little to none PR talk (as the images speak louder than words regarding the capabilities of the XJ’s AWD system), and interesting facts – in this case about the remote Yukon region of Canada and life in the coldest town on earth.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

This is How BMW Treats Customers who Switch from Mercedes to Their Cars [w/Video]

Remember BMW’s launch film for the new 4-Series Coupe? It looks like a couple was so impressed by it that they decided to buy a new 4-Series instead of going for a Mercedes-Benz, per their initial plan.

Debra Hayden wrote BMW on Facebook and told the Bavarian company that the video made her and her husband decide to buy a BMW 428i instead of a Mercedes-Benz. She also wrote that they had opted to pick up the car from BMW Welt in Munich on October 21 and that the marketing team that put the video together “deserves kudos” for bringing in new business for BMW.

Now what do you think BMW did with all this information? It decided to surprise the customers when they arrived in Germany to pick up their brand new car.

They arranged a very special delivery with a VIP treatment, and surprised them by bringing the man responsible for the launch film, among other things. If you happen to own a business, watch and learn how to make your customers happy from the following video.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

VW Uses 36 Dogs to Advertise Its Entire Model Range

Dogs have starred in car commercials for a long time and it's really hard to find a bad ad featuring man's best friend. That's not necessarily due to the quality of the ads, but because we humans tend to love dogs. Automakers know that, and the latest to use our four-legged friends to sell its cars is Volkswagen.

The German carmaker launched a range-wide advertising campaign in the UK to demonstrate the breadth of its lineup by using 36 beautiful dogs from various breeds.

To illustrate the tagline “There’s a Volkswagen for all of us”, the carmaker’s advertising agency created a new canine related campaign spearheaded by the TV commercial suggestively called “Woofwagen”. The 36 dogs that appear in the campaign represent each model in the lineup, from the Up! city car to the range-topping Phaeton and the special XL1 1-liter car.

“We had great fun matching dogs to cars and the filming was like nothing I’ve ever done before. The dogs were fantastic and we hope this ad puts a smile on people’s faces,” said Nikki Pates, VW communications manager.

You can watch the commercial after the break and a behind the scenes video after that.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

BMW Execs Are Delighted with the 2-Series Coupe in New Video

BMW is marketing the all-new 2-Series Coupe as a sportier, lightweight alternative to bigger coupes and that is truly something the brand really needed. Not that its predecessor, the 1-Series Coupe, didn't provide that, but it wasn't too convincing in the design department.

Following the release of the official photos and information, the German carmaker has now shown a new video in which it details the BMW 2-Series, particularly the M235i range-topping version.

In the first film, Domagoj Dukec, BMW head of exterior design, and Thomas Ebner, product manager of the BMW 2-Series, are talking about the main design and performance features of the car.

BMW pitches the 2-Series as a natural successor to the BMW 02 range, and talks of “supremely sporting driving experience” while referring to it. Naturally, that can only be good news for BMW enthusiasts, who will no doubt enjoy the video as it presents features like the launch control, among others.

The other clip is a short launch film. Watch booth after the break.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

Jeep Frees First 2014 Cherokee SUV Spot

The Chrysler Group had been holding back on, well, just about everything concerning the all-new and all-important for the Jeep brand 2014 Cherokee SUV until it ironed out all the problems, which it did last week, when it finally began shipping the first examples to dealers across the country.

Now it's time to kick off the marketing and advertising aspect of the 2014 Cherokee launch starting with an extended, 60-seconds long spot dubbed “Built Free” across television and online networks.

The spot, which is set to Bob Dylan's 1962 "Motherless Children", has a certain nostalgic tone to it, something that in some ways, stands in contrast to the new Cherokee's adventurous styling tone that breaks with tradition.

“The return of the Cherokee nameplate to the Jeep brand brings with it the opportunity for consumers to experience an exciting vehicle that will move the midsize SUV segment forward,” stated Mike Manley, President and CEO of Jeep.

The campaign won't be limited to this spot as it will also target print media with a number of monthly magazines and daily newspapers, as well as an exclusive in-theater ad to be released on November 29 in conjunction with the upcoming film, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” with Ben Stiller.

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO

Nissan Tries to Convince Us the Note Can Float, But Why? [w/Video]

New car launches can be boring, especially when they follow the same classic set-up. However, Nissan wanted something special for the UK launch of the new Note, so it turned the small B-segment car into a boat of sorts.

Nissan literally launched the specially-adapted Note Boat on the Eton Dorney Lake in the UK, along with three superstar Olympic rowers: Helen Glover, Sophie Hosking and Polly Swann.

The carmaker says the Note Boat “provides a visual demonstration of Note's exciting technologies”, more specifically the sliding rear seat (turned into a single stroke seat for a rower), the rear doors, which open to almost 90 degrees allowing the fitting of a pair of oars which can move through an almost entire rowing stroke, and the Around View Monitor 360-degree parking system, which helped the rowers see where they were going and keep their lane.

The Note’s Around View Monitor with Safety Shield technology features four cameras - one in the front, one at the rear and one under each door mirror - providing a helicopter-style top down view.

I’m not sure what point Nissan wanted to make with this publicity stunt, other than the Note can be placed onto a raft and claim it’s a rowing boat by fitting a pair of oars. Imagine if the event went wrong – that would have definitely got a lot of media coverage.

As for the Note that prefers roads to lakes, UK deliveries  kicked off on October 1, with Nissan receiving 3,860 orders so far.

By Dan Mihalascu

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO

You Might Not Know the Car in This 1970s Ad, but You Surely Know the Man

Back in 1970, when American Motors Corporation (AMC) was still trying to put up what turned out to be a futile fight against Detroit's Big Three, it enlisted the help of a young actor who had not yet made it big in Hollywood to participate in a television commercial for the Ambassador sedan; his name was Robert De Niro.

In the 30 second spot that was unearthed and brought to our attention by the folks over at Aol Autos, 27-year old De Niro is depicted as a successful college graduate who visits Little Italy in a spanking new AMC Ambassador impressing his family and friends.

And being the 1970s, the creators of the ad had no problem to include all kind of exaggerated Italian American stereotypes...

Watch it in full in the video below the break.

VIDEO

Mercedes Ad Has Schumacher Walking By an S-Class With Intelligent Drive…

The life of an ad man must be a very difficult one nowadays – many good ideas have been done, many good punch lines have been said at least twice and in most known languages, adding on top of that the pressure of not having a truly innovative product to promote, in a copycat world of corporate interests.

Actually, it seems that the rut they’re in is so deep, that even when they are on to something new and interesting to tell the people about, they still overdo it.

Whoever Mercedes-Benz hired to do a promo for their Intelligent Drive system did just that and ended up having Michael Schumacher (who can drive…quite well) walk by one of their S-Class sedans finished in one of the million shades of silver you can order – he could have at least sat in the car, and shown us the swoopy dashboard.

I mean it’s a luxurious car with one of the nicest-looking interiors in the world that will in the near future be able to drive itself – it’s not really hard to sell the concept, and even if it was imperative to go down the retired F1 driver route, they could have at least used their time with Schumacher better.

At least the previous ad in the series had more motion in it and actually had a purpose for the chickens to be there and be moved around in the manner that they were.

The second video posted is a teaser for something bigger that is to come, also featuring the retired F1 star - check both out after the virtual jump.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO

BMW Demonstrates an Evil Use for its ConnectedDrive System in New Ad

Technology changes the way we interact with cars in a way we didn’t think possible a decade ago. Nowadays many cars allow remote access of some of their functions via a smartphone - which is a good and convenient thing most of the time.

BMW’s ConnectedDrive technology is a good example of the interactive experience drivers now get from their cars. The carmaker offers a series of services and apps that certainly make life easier for drivers, as it demonstrated in a recent video. However, BMW says that how drivers use these apps is up to them.

A rather mischievous use can be seen in a new BMW commercial called “Happy End”, where a father uses his remote-controlled 7-Series to make sure his daughter doesn’t “cross the line” with her boyfriend. You can find out who had the last laugh by watching the video posted below.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

Ford’s MyKey May Be the Worst Thing to Happen to Young Drivers and their Parents

I remember after I got my driver’s license that I had to have my father in the passenger’s seat for a few months after, but not because so said the law, or the fact that I was particularly bad at driving, and the lack of parental faith in me bringing the prized family sedan back home in one piece – it was simply for peace of mind, as well as a bonding experience, and I think very important in the development of any parent-child relationship.

Ford now has a sneaky way around that, which would allow whichever parent should be tutoring you in the ways of the steering wheel, to sit back and watch their favorite show at home, while you roam the streets on your own – it’s not actually new, but it’s called MyKey. It allows owners to limit certain settings for the car, the most important of which being the maximum speed, or making the stability control stay permanently on, without the possibility of disabling it using the usual dashboard button.

It is a good system to have, but it does not, like the commercial posted below says, replace the presence of a parent or trusted family member in passenger’s seat by any means – now more parents will have more excuses to spend less time with their kids, and I’m sorry, but while MyKey is useful, it’s not necessarily constructive.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO

Chrysler Pays Tribute to the Sounds of Motown with Special Edition 300 and New Campaign

Chrysler has revealed a new special edition version of its 300 sedan dedicated and named after Detroit's Motown record label, in advance of its world premiere at next month's 2013 North American International Auto Show.

DeLorean NYC Taxi Concept Promises to Take You Back to Another Time

As the great Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown once put it, "Once this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious s*it."
Sadly, time-travel has yet to be invented, but that's not the only problem with this New York City taxicab that's based on the DeLorean featured in the Back to the Future trilogy.

Fiat 500c Abarth's New Topless Ad with Catrinel Menghia is Wickedly Cheeky

If there's one thing Fiat has proven to do well in North America, is capture viewers' attention with its ads - well, at least after it learned its lesson with those out of touch commercials starring Jenifer Lopez.
Exactly a year after the Italians launched the 500 Abarth “Seduction” spot with supermodel Catrinel Menghia at the 2011 LA Auto Show, at the same event this year, Fiat released a new commercial for its 500c Abarth, which is the partially open-top version of the series.

New VW Golf Mk7's "People Are People" Commercial with Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan

For more than 30 years, Depeche Mode has been one of the most iconic and influential groups in the music industry, churning out one hit after the other, and it is the sounds of the English band that Volkswagen chose as the theme for one of the commercials it has prepared for the European launch of the seventh generation Golf hatchback.
The television spot is named "People Are People" after the homonymous song from Depeche Mode's fourth album, "Some Great Reward" that was released in 1984.

New Fiat 500 Ad: The Next Wave of Italian Immigrants Has Come to America

The Fiat brand is playing the immigration card in a new commercial for the 500 city car family that includes the regular hatchback, the canvas-topped 500C and the sporty Abarth models.
The new TV spot that is titled "Immigrants" is available in 30-, 60- and 90-second versions, and will run on local and national broadcast and cable channels beginning on Monday.
It tells the tale of the 500's departure from the beautiful Amalfi coast and Sorrento in Italy with several cars jumping into the sea and driving under water all the way to New York City.

Toyota's "Connections" Super Bowl Ad will Take you from Zero to Snooze in 61 Seconds

Toyota has a secret weapon against its rivals in this year's Super Bowl (well, at least those that have scheduled to air their commercials after the Japanese company): it's called "Connections" and it's one of two spots that it will run during the big game.
Provided you haven't already fallen asleep from the soft voiceover heard in the background, the only vaguely interesting part of the commercial is the appearance of a jacked up older generation Camry riding on massive alloy wheels at around 40 seconds into the clip.
Now that you've been warned, feel free to hop over the break to watch Toyota's second Super Bowl XLVI spot.

BMW gets Playful with Six New Ads, Two of Which will Air during the Super Bowl

While BMW wants to keep its signature motto "Ultimate Driving Machine" alive, it also desires to attract a younger crowd with its marketing efforts on the brand-new 2012 3-Series sedan.
Hence the playful nature of its new U.S. campaign, which comprises six short commercials, two of which will air on TV during Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday.
The 15 and 30 second ads were created by 'Kirschenbaum, Bond, Senecal + Partners', and all of them demonstrate some of the new technologies that have been incorporated into the latest 3-Series in a humorous manner. You can watch all of them right after the break.

Chevy Takes a Stab at Ford with its New Super Bowl Ad for the Silverado

And the claws are out! Chevrolet makes no apologies for its new commercial on the Silverado pickup truck that will air during the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world that draws on the Mayan predictions, the ad shows a group of friends that made it out alive and who all happen to be Silverado owners.

Once they assemble, they notice that one of their buddies didn’t make it to the meeting point – the missing friend happens to own a Ford…
You can take a look at Chevy's "2012" Super Bowl ad in the video after the break.

Chevrolet Goes Big for Super Bowl with Five New Ads

GM's Chevrolet division will have a huge presence at this year's Super Bowl game as it plans to air no less than five commercials focusing on the Camaro, the Sonic and the Volt.
These include the "Needing Getting" music video for the Sonic from the band OK Go that will air during the pregame program, the "Aliens" spot showcasing the Volt, the "Chevy Happy Grand" with the Camaro Convertible, the "Sonic Anthem" that chronicles the sub-compact's stunts, and the "Joy", again with the Sonic.

Suzuki Airs Final Version of its Super Bowl "Sled" Ad with New Song from 50 Cent

Last weekend, we showed you Suzuki's new Super Bowl commercial for the Kizashi sedan title "Sled". As it turns out, it wasn't the final version that will air during the big game on Sunday, February 5, but a preview clip with music from Ben Kahle.
However, the only change made to the commercial is the addition of rapper 50 Cent's "Movin' On Up" song. Other than that, it's the same ad showing an Eskimo swapping his dog sled for a Kizashi all-wheel drive saloon.