Terrible Car Commercials

With all of the money that auto executives spend on TV advertising, you would think that they would be very careful with what they are trying to say about their cars and how they say it. Sometimes things might look good in the boardroom but look terrible on the small screen.

Here are a few bad commercials that I have come across on the internet. Some of them are old and some of them are new, but all of them are pretty bad. Many of the horrible ads that I have seen are bad because they are now so old, and the car they are advertising is now known to be so bad, that the commercials can only make you laugh. Some of the ads are just bad, and were always bad. Either way, if you can at least have something to laugh at, it’s worthwhile taking another look.

Here is just a few for now there will be more, later.

Datsun 280ZX Black Gold

This advertisement is from 1980 which should be abundantly obvious to anyone who actually remembers that year. This ad really doesn’t need any explanation because the terribleness of it all is pretty easy to see. What is up with that dopey kiss?

1986 Ford Taurus Introduction

This is an ad that was probably very effective because it has a catchy tune, shows the car zooming down the road, and it shows plenty of people reacting positively to seeing the brand new Ford Taurus. This was the first year of the Taurus so it was totally new to the world and this commercial does make it look somewhat exciting. The problem with this ad is that the 1986 Ford Taurus was such a terrible car that it is hilarious to see the poor saps in this ad get so giddy over something that is going to have a bad transmission and blown head gaskets after only a few miles.

Chrysler 200 Imported from Detroit

I got a question for ya...What in the world is this guy talking about? As if Eminem drives a 200. This is a grandma car and putting a rap star in an ad like this isn’t fooling anyone. And what’s with the whole “Imported from Detroit” tagline? Last time I looked at the map Detroit was within the borders of the United States along with both New York City and Las Vegas. The ad also seems to be saying that because Detroit somehow resembles a ghost town that has fallen apart because of the problems in the auto industry, somehow they (the troubled local auto industry) are now able to build a really nice car for your grandma? "This is the motorcity, and this is what we do!" What do you do? 

Ford and Chevy Trucks towing each other

My truck is bigger than your truck…no my truck is bigger than your truck. Girls, girls, you’re both pretty. As if you need to haul a truck hauling a truck pulling a truck. These little tests prove nothing, and are probably faked half the time anyway. Like someone who is about to buy a truck is going to be influenced by seeing a truck towing a mountain. If the Chevy at the end is really towing the mountain, who’s to say that they could just hook up a Ford to the front of the Chevy and then film a Ford commercial of their truck towing the truck that is towing the mountain. And what is the deal with the people just sitting around out in the middle of nowhere as the mountain towing truck drives by? No way is this commercial, or any other commercial like it, is really effective.