Superbowl Ads: Ford Escape Hybrid & Toyota Camry Hybrid
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 02. 6.06
The Superbowl ad for the Ford Escape hybrid SUV that we wrote about last week can now be viewed at Google Video. It is not particularly impressive or catchy, but at least it is was better than seeing GM pimp its ginormous Escalade and Hummer SUVs. Another interesting ad was the one pitching Toyota's 2007 Camry hybrid. The description reads: "Hispanic father is driving his young son in their new hybrid Toyota Camry. When the father explains how the hybrid car switches between gas and electric power, the son compares it to the way his father can switch between English and Spanish." ::Ford Escape Hybrid Superbowl ad at Google Video, ::Toyota Camry Hybrid Superbowl ad at Google Video
I drive 100000+ miles/yr for my bank courier job while I'm trying to finish college. I still think my Honda Insight is the "Cadillac of Hybrids", but for people who need more than a 2-seater, I would recommend the Prius. My parents have a first-gen and they love it. They're thinking about selling their Sienna to buy a new Prius, and my sister wants to sell her Maxima to get a Civic hybrid. Hybrids are so great! These jackasses in a V8 Grand Cherokee were laughing at my car with "It's a Jeep thing...you wouldn't understand!" on their back window. So I went the next day and put "It's a 70 mpg thing...you wouldn't understand!" on my back window. They weren't laughing the next time they saw me at the gas station, and I told them I just went 700 miles on a 10 gallon tank!
The FEH ad was subtle. Not a great commercial but good. The TCH ad was lame. The dialogue felt unnatural. It didn't work too well.
I thought the Toyota ad was good. The Ford ad was so so.
I wasn't impressed much by either ad, but at least the Toyota one showed the interior and exterior of the car, and the dialogue was more or less related to the hybrid drivetrain.
Ford's ad has more chances of making people buy Kermit dolls than hybrid cars, IMHO.
I was embarrassed for Kermit. If Jim Henson were alive, there's NO WAY Kermit would be shilling for a company like Ford.