Advertising theme lines: The Good, The Bad, The Nonsensical and The Flat-Out Stupid.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. The taglines automakers use in their advertising have always held a certain fascination for me. How did they arrive at them? What’s the thinking behind them? Or more accurately and in some cases, what were they thinking?

Maybe it’s because I was in the business for so long and worked on my share of them, or maybe it’s because I know what goes into coming up with these lines and how it can be an excruciatingly slow and painful process, but it always remains a favorite subject of mine.

At the very least these lines reflect the state of the company, but even more so they often mirror the societal moment the advertising is created in.

But not always.

For instance, the upward trajectory of America in the wide-open late 50s and early 60s was perfectly captured by Chevrolet’s “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet” tagline, complete with Dinah Shore singing the song. With the country in the midst of blue-sky thinking and limitless imagination, it was one of the most popular automotive ad themes of all time.

But then how do you explain Chevrolet’s “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet” campaign from 1975, which was equally popular and memorable? That campaign happened in the midst of one of the most uproarious and tumultuous times in in this nation’s history, a seemingly giant disconnect, yet it worked admirably.

Once upon a time these statements were considered advertising slogans or taglines (back when advertising was fun and not so depressingly and relentlessly self-important, of course). But today there’s so much Sturm und Drang wrapped up in the enterprise and so much research money and unfettered hand-wringing involved that they’ve become “brand themes.”

Fair enough, because in some cases the best lines so perfectly mirror what the company is about that it’s almost incomprehensible to think of the brand without them.

Like “The Ultimate Driving Machine” for BMW. Even though it could be argued that at least half the current BMW product line doesn’t measure up to those words, that theme line is so seared into the American consumer consciousness that it stands out as enduring, accurate and true.

So accurate and true in fact that when German-based BMW marketers tried to shove the “Joy” theme line down American BMW dealers’ throats to be more in sync with the German advertising, they openly revolted. The dealers’ point? Twenty-five-plus years invested in one of the most memorable and evocative automobile advertising themes of all time and BMW headquarters wanted to throw it away on "Joy"? The American BMW dealers won that battle, thank goodness.

Or take the Audi theme line “Truth in Engineering,” which came immediately after “Never Follow.” Back in the late 90s when Audi made a conscious decision to finally shed its second-tier reputation to BMW and Mercedes-Benz and elevate itself to the top rung of the luxury-performance ladder, the brand needed a focal point, a statement that perfectly encapsulated what they were about. And though it came much later, “Truth in Engineering” exudes the kind of confidence and iconoclastic single-mindedness Audi projects, fitting the brand perfectly.

Do the above examples mean that the new-gen themes with millions in research and second-guessing behind them are more substantive and work better than the lines from back in the day? The short answer? No.

When BMW adopted “The Ultimate…” theme line, they had Mercedes-Benz in their sights and they needed a line that could go toe-to-toe with one of the greatest automotive ad themes of all time, Mercedes’ “Engineered Like No Other Car in the World.”

The old-school Mercedes-Benz models reveled in their over-engineered reputation and the ad theme summed up everything about the brand clearly and succinctly. The “Engineered…” theme went hand in hand with the tremendous word of mouth associated with the integrity of the cars themselves. And it worked.

But then the MBA-infused marketing hordes at Mercedes-Benz decided that “Engineered…” was tired and too exclusive, and that the brand needed to become more “approachable,” which would dovetail nicely with the aggressive new volume expectations being bandied about.

That it blew up in their faces was no surprise, but how they could talk themselves out of one of the most memorable theme lines in automotive history is still difficult to comprehend. Some would argue that it meshed perfectly with the fact that Mercedes dumbed-down their cars and chased ridiculous segment niches that they had no business playing in, and I don’t disagree.

And now, after years of floundering around and making complete fools of themselves with one insipid ad theme after another, Mercedes has alighted on “The Best or Nothing” – founder Gottleib Daimler’s mantra (Das beste oder nicths). That it’s in the same vein as “Engineered…” is no coincidence. It looks to me that Mercedes needed and wanted to get back to “Engineered…” but didn’t want to appear that they were out of ideas. And it also could be the fact that the "Engineered…" statement is no longer true either, or only intermittently so as the case may be.

Today, we live in a mishmash of automotive ad themes, a kaleidoscope of good, bad, nonsensical and flat-out stupid brand statements that start to run together after a while. The traditional call to action and the compelling, evocative words are missing, and instead we’re often left with vacuous lines that convey… nothing.

Part of this is due to the fact that the touchy-feely generation working at the ad agencies creating and strategizing this stuff was raised in an era where everyone was told they were special, everyone got a trophy and it was expected that self-absorption and gratification came before everything else.

No wonder we’re saddled with relentlessly mind-numbing lines like “Made for Mankind” for Acura. Really? Let me get this straight - Acura, the brand that has been in a perpetual struggle for credibility while aspiring to a higher level, is now going to aim its entire raison d'etre at "the enlightened"? As I said a couple of weeks ago, I'm all for high-concept advertising, because when it works it's memorable and inspiring. But when it doesn't it leaves a trail of confusion, head scratching and yes, even bitterness in its wake that is very difficult to overcome.

Then there are the journeys, aka the “finding yourself” themes like “Find Your Own Way” for Mitsubishi and “Find New Roads” for Chevrolet. First of all, Mitsubishi has been missing in action for so long that irrelevance has become their calling card. And “Find Your Own Way” doesn’t help their cause in the least. Most people will find their own way all right, to another brand’s showroom.

As for “Find New Roads” it may satisfy the various constituencies who have a hand in Chevrolet marketing – and believe me, there are legions of them – but it doesn’t say anything on its own. And it certainly doesn’t have the power of an emotional connection, like some of the great Chevy ad campaigns of the past.

(As for the new “Strong” campaign for the Chevy Silverado, it’s plainly an updated interpretation of the famed “Like a Rock” campaign from years past in look, tone and feel - with different music. Will it resonate as much as the Bob Seger-voiced campaign from back in the day? That remains to be seen.)

Then there are the modified journey themes, Ford’s “Go Further” and Toyota’s “Let’s Go Places.” The Ford theme actually assumes that people have a pulse and are still willing to push themselves to be better and to experience more, but unlike the Chevy theme it doesn’t necessarily confine itself to roads.

While Toyota has come up with yet another theme that could easily have worked for Chevrolet, which is no surprise, since Toyota has usurped Chevrolet as “America’s car company” for a lot of people.

There are plenty of other examples.

Cadillac insists it is “The Standard of the World” again, but few believe it and it’s hard to imagine Cadillac standing behind that phrase when they just killed their halo car of the future. (See last week’s Rant here. – WG)

Chrysler will continue to push its “Imported from Detroit” theme, even though any residual impact from the Super Bowl spot with Eminem has long since faded from view. And when Detroit sinks into bankruptcy in another couple of months, you have to wonder about the efficacy of that brand theme.

Infiniti claims to be “Inspired Performance” but it will take years before they sync up their products to that boast. And Lexus has given up altogether and saddled us with “Amazing in Motion,” which sounds like an ad campaign for next winter’s Ice Capades.

Jaguar is now using “Your Turn,” which is pushing self-absorption on a grand scale, oddly fitting for a brand that now deems its heritage as anathema. No more staid and proper tweeds for the formerly British-owned brand, now it’s all “badass” – the muscle car for people with too much money to be caught dead in a Camaro.

Honda has the brilliant “Power of Dreams,” which fits the old school image of the Honda Motor Company better than the poor facsimile of the company that exists today. And the company has now launched a global social media/PR campaign that revolves around the concept of “my journey.” So now we’re to assume that they intend on mimicking Chevrolet in some fashion, leaving the dreaming to someone else.

Nissan has “Innovation that Excites,” which is about as tedious as it gets, and which people seem to be ignoring altogether while they make their way to Nissan showrooms in search of artificially enhanced deals, thanks to the Japanese government’s manipulation of the yen. Who needs an ad theme for that?

The Koreans seem to be making it up as they go along, which they’ve done for years. Hyundai has the delightfully vague “New Thinking, New Possibilities,” which sounds like a campaign for the newly updated Brooks Brothers. And KIA has “The Power to Surprise” although for the launch of the new Cadenza they have “Impossible to Ignore.” It doesn’t seem to matter to them, and it doesn’t seem to matter to the people buying them either. There is no emotional attachment to buying a Korean car, why should the ad theme promise anything different?

VW is “Das Auto,” which is absolutely on-target given their avowed goal to rule the automotive world. It may not resonate with their customers but VW operatives would be the first to admit that they don’t care.

Then there’s Subaru’s “Love, It's What Makes a Subaru, a Subaru” theme line, which is just right for the brand and the people who buy them. (The real tag line is "Confidence in Motion." Do people even know that or recognize it? No.)

And finally, there’s one more line on the roster of best automotive ad themes of all time, “There is no Substitute” for Porsche. Evocative, emotionally compelling and powerful, it’s perfect for what the brand represents.

In the end ad themes run the gamut, from mind-numbingly stupid to blissfully sublime, with anything and everything accounted for in-between.

When they work, they say everything positive that you need to know about the brand in a few memorable words.

When they don’t, they’re as forgettable as the brand itself.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.