Felice wants an Equus.<\/p>\n
We’re sitting around the table at dinner, shooting the shit, and Stephen starts complaining that his Smart Car is just too anemic, he puts the pedal to the metal and nothing happens for seconds, he’s got to buy something new.\u00c2\u00a0 Therein, the great L.A. car debate is engendered.<\/p>\n
Felice drives a Lexus GS300.\u00c2\u00a0 A 2002.\u00c2\u00a0 You could drive that car forever, but she’s beginning to become annoyed by the rattles.\u00c2\u00a0 And you can’t buy a new Lexus.<\/p>\n
BECAUSE TOYOTA DOESN’T CARE ABOUT PEOPLE!<\/p>\n
If George Bush, according to Kanye West, doesn’t care about black people, Toyota is unconcerned with the proletariat. We want our automobiles to give us a fighting chance, we don’t want them to kill us.\u00c2\u00a0 And it takes years to change production lines.\u00c2\u00a0 Whatever Toyota says, those killing machines are still in the pipeline.<\/p>\n
So do you buy a BMW or Mercedes?<\/p>\n
Nah.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s too much image wrapped up in those.\u00c2\u00a0 And their repair records are heinous.\u00c2\u00a0 Who wants to pay that much and have trouble?<\/p>\n
My recently graduated from college nephew bought a Hyundai.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the go-to automobile of Generation Y.\u00c2\u00a0 Because it’s cheap and good.\u00c2\u00a0 It just works.\u00c2\u00a0 And you can’t say that about too much in this world.<\/p>\n
Apple’s great.\u00c2\u00a0 But Apple’s expensive.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s for the elite.<\/p>\n
Hyundai is for the people.<\/p>\n
Therefore, maybe doing an ad for Hyundai is not like pimping for other products.\u00c2\u00a0 Actors will endorse anything.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, Gilbert Gottfried is hyping a long shoehorn. Howard Stern asked him if he ever used the Shoedini.\u00c2\u00a0 Gilbert says they gave him one, but it’s in a closet somewhere, he’s never tried it out.<\/p>\n
That’s modern advertising.<\/p>\n
Or is it?<\/p>\n
These Pomplamoose\/Hyundai ads are head-turners.\u00c2\u00a0 Because watching them, it’s not clear whether the ad is for Hyundai or Pomplamoose.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t have to Google the ad, to find out who did it.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, maybe you do, because you’re unfamiliar with the duo, but they just got better exposure than any video on MTV, Vevo too. They got to play their music and be themselves and get paid, all at the same time.<\/p>\n
But they’re whoring themselves out, right?<\/p>\n
Well, the difference here is they’re in business for themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re not signed to any label, we don’t see the same string-pullers behind the scenes.\u00c2\u00a0 Therefore, we applaud Pomplamoose’s victory.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t believe in advertising, then again, I’d do an endorsement for Dannon Coffee yogurt, I use the stuff, I’ve already eaten three today!<\/p>\n
What we’ve got here is a marriage between a cool band and a cool car.\u00c2\u00a0 The car company is so cool that they were fine with putting their machine second.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, they’re trading on the hipness\/cachet of Pomplemoose, but somehow these ads seem to be showcases for the band.<\/p>\n
This is a win\/win\/win.<\/p>\n
Hyundai gets to be associated with a hip brand.\u00c2\u00a0 Pomplamoose gets paid and gets exposure.\u00c2\u00a0 And Pomplamoose fans are excited abou their heroes’ good fortune and new people are brought to the tribe, not because Pomplamoose is jammed down their throats so much as they’re viewing something unique\/hip, that entices them.<\/p>\n
Very few products have the positive image of Hyundai.<\/p>\n
And very few artists are as cool as Pomplamoose.<\/p>\n
And very few advertising agencies can convince their clients to essentially make an ad for a band.<\/p>\n
But consider my rule broken.\u00c2\u00a0 This is one case where I’m giving a thumbs-up to endorsement.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m thrilled that two hip entities have joined forces to benefit each other.<\/p>\n
And I wouldn’t be ashamed to cruise around in an Equus with Felice.\u00c2\u00a0 We’d look smart.\u00c2\u00a0 Frugal.\u00c2\u00a0 And they even come to your house to pick the car up for service, what could be better than that?<\/p>\n
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