Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Dodge, Volkswagen
Holy... Safe! Could coarse car ads attract FCC attention?
In its quest to clean up television, could the Federal Communications Commission go after automotive advertising? USA Today wonders how the cuddly-wuddly FCC may react to some of the in-your-face commercials currently being shown in your home.
The story cites Volkswagen's "Safe Happens" Passat ads as well as Dodge's Caliber ad (shown above) featuring the foul-mouthed Binky in a Caliber focus group. "It scares the BEEP out of me," Binky responds to the ominous black Caliber.
Regarding V-Dub's recent crash-centric commericals, VW's General Manager Kurt Schneider reponds to USAT's questioning, by saying, "One of the most critical things was to have the dialog and whole scene be extremely natural. For anyone who's been in an accident, one of the first things you do is curse."
One of the next things you might do is buy a new car. Either because of, or in spite of the ads, lots of drivers have bought new Calibers and Passats this year.
The fact that the FCC hasn't brought this issue to fore, yet, may be an indication that either these spots are flying under the radar of the agency's boffins or that the ad's tactics are a drop in the bucket when it comes to foul language and violence on TV. Either way, it's a safe bet that we'll be hearing more about this issue as advertisers continue to up the ante in 30-second increments.
[Sources: USA Today, YouTube]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
farris 6:28PM (11/01/2006)
"...and in other news, the FCC is sueing a man for cursing in his home."
How long do you think it'll take before that happens?
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Slikone 6:39PM (11/01/2006)
I dont know what it is, but that Caliber ad cracks me up every time. I just watched it 3 more times and I still cant stop laughing
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John 7:04PM (11/01/2006)
Holy BEEP, What kind BEEP is this? Sounds like the FCC has to much time on their hands. Just think, YOUR tax money is going for this kind of BEEP!
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ruggels 7:14PM (11/01/2006)
lmao, the first decent caliber ad, I love it!
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felonious monk 7:54PM (11/01/2006)
They are flying under the radar because neither one has a single exposed female breast. We're bombarded by ads for Viagra and femine hygiene products constantly but we can't see a bare breast on TV.
THE FCC IS A FARCE.
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Scott Eaton 8:04PM (11/01/2006)
On a side note: does anybody have an inside to those VW ads? How they're made, etc.? I don't see them actually sending actors into head-on collisions but they look real.
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JW 8:16PM (11/01/2006)
I think it is crap to have the FCC...see the Family Guy episode about it. I would like to know how they make the crash commercials as well.
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Jimu 8:35PM (11/01/2006)
If the Caliber scares the fack out of binky, then binky cursed out of a psychologically defensive gesture. Binky was just trying to protect his own mind from the trauma.
I love binky. I watched every one of Binky's shows when I was growing up. I would always go to sleep with my Binky doll, and listen to Binky's lullaby songs to fall asleep. I know Binky is a good baby monkey monster. Binky is my role model, and he has done nothing but to encourage people to strive for greater achievements throughout his career.
All the Binkyans out their should speak out in support of the Dodge Caliber ad.
For Binky.
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phil 9:15PM (11/01/2006)
If you listen to it closely you can tell they are beeping out the word "poop" so it isn't even an issue.
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Mark 9:25PM (11/01/2006)
I never understood the controversy, or whatever you call it, over the VW ads. Just fodder for fat-asses who feel necessary to comment on every aspect of life to freak out over. These people are bizarre.
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JON 10:04PM (11/01/2006)
Dodge is paroding the focus group approach to car design.Most cars are designed to appeal to as many different people as possible (demographics).The problem with that is you usually wind up with a ambiguous (kind of blah) design.That was the good thing about the 300c for example.It wasn't watered down as much as most designs are.and it's bold confident styling attracted alot of guys who didn't want a generic sedan.
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Stphane Dumas 10:20PM (11/01/2006)
#3 and #5 I'm agree with you the FCC is (Censored) and in Canada the CRTC follow some of their weird policies. I prefer this Caliber ad then the boring Viagra ads.
and some of you may remember the banned Corvette ad who featured a kid driving a Corvette http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4YAt0GFsZU
let the kids dream of a Corvette, you can't dream of a Camry unless someone decided to put a AWD setup with optionnal V8 ;-)
Also, I found at TV Party website, this article about the old toy guns commercials http://www.tvparty.com/emguns.html
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Cheezedog 11:32PM (11/01/2006)
The FCC scare the bleep out of me...
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That One Person 12:23AM (11/02/2006)
That Vette ad was banned? What a goddamn joke! Ok, they let TV shows have shooting and chopped off limbs and sex but a kid DREAMING about driving a Vette is too much? Damn I love this country!!!! Our tax money is going to a good cause and our leaders are just making our lives SO much better. Damn mothers and their PMS!
Censorship really grinds my gears. If you dont want your kids watching Desperate Housewives, send them to bed. Dont ruin it for the rest of us, assholes!
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Binky 12:44AM (11/02/2006)
hey, who are you?
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Will Dashwood 4:48AM (11/02/2006)
Over here in the UK we've got the same ad but Binky doesn't swear, just admits "I just wet myself" or words to that effect. Also we don't have the the line at the end ("That's the reaction we were looking for") since I guess the ad agency figures we don't need that pointing out.
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Vega 4:58AM (11/02/2006)
In the immortal words of Helen Lovejoy: 'Won't somebody please think about the children?'
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JON 10:45AM (11/02/2006)
Yep Vega.Thanks for setting the priorities in order.I'm humbled by your post.I should have said something in 11.
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JW 12:13AM (11/03/2006)
Like children can buy cars..well actually I take that back with the Ebay incident.
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Fabulo 2:39AM (11/03/2006)
Now, let me get this straight, because I might be confused. People watch ads?
Why?
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