Since this is a new ad agency we're sort of surprised this follows essentially the same trite pattern they use in the My Name Is Ram commercial. You know, mixing images and video of the car with inspirational pictures and video. And the imagery they chose? Mikhail Gorbachev, Lech Walesa, a Trabant, a painting of Nelson Mandela and the Chrysler 300 mowing down a flock of doves. Seriously — talk about a mixed metaphor.

AdAge tells us Fiat Chrysler Group's Olivier Francois, the president-CEO of the Chrysler vehicle brand, tapped Armando Testa, his ad agency for Italian Lancia, to warm up a leftover Lancia commercial for the U.S. market.

Hmm, somehow we've got to believe hiring an Italian agency for the work may not sit well with American taxpayers, who bailed out Chrysler earlier this year with billions of dollars in loans. And this while several hundred staffers of Chrysler Group's longtime ad agency, BBDO Detroit, will be out of work at the end of January when the contract expires.

But back to the spot itself. It's a mish-mash of images that have nothing to do with the Chrylser 300C. All this does is continue to beg the question: Why the hell is Chrysler still alive and why did the American taxpayer help keep it alive?

Also, is that a European license plate? Make that a "what the fuck" times two.

[AdAge]

[via CreativityOnline]

Having been forced to watch the original Twilight movie I can relate the plot to you very quickly: A high school girl with greasy hair falls in love with a 100-year-old, but still young looking vampire whose main powers are looking moody and sparkling. Ignoring the pedophilia and concentrating instead on the fact that the two don't have sex, Christians the world over have seized on the movie as a wonderful example of abstinence (Should I have sex with a sparkle vampire? What would Jesus do?) and encouraged their pubescent daughters to obsess over the movie's star, the dreamy Robert Pattinson.

At some point during all the ridiculousness and sparkling, there's some brief message about protecting the people you love. Volvo's seized on this, pushing its products heavily in the movies and now running an ad campaign to tie in with the sequel, New Moon, which opens next week.

Ignoring for a second the bizarre Christian thing that's going to insure that a generation of girls grow up with an incredibly fucked up idea of sex, the target demographic for this teen marketing campaign movie is 12-year-old girls. Is that really the market for Volvo XC60s? We mean, they can't even drive yet!

Then there's the direct parallel Volvo's drawing between the website it's using to promote its product placement and that creepy Christian thing the movies have going on. The website's name? What Drives Edward? Would Jesus be that creepy?

It's not even uncomfortably homoerotic.

The ad was put together by the Richards Group of Dallas (who does all those great Bridgestone ads) and, according to AdAge, may be voiced by company founder Stan Richards himself.

We think the commercial is a bit much, trying to capture the Whitman-esque charm of the new Levi's commercials but, you know, while talking about a truck and not the American spirit. Either way, people who don't know who Walt Whitman is will probably be equally as moved. [AdAge]

Sorry, we had to pull the video down. We didn't realize we weren't supposed to be taking video or photos in the session. — Ed. And it's back up!

Can someone please go to Elder Ford and tell us how many of those are on the lot? Also, inside, you can meet the original Henry Ford!

(Hat tip to M0L0TOV for the vid)

No video game, no matter how good, should smack around cars like this. It's just a waste.

So, warning: The commercial below — of a 1969 Corvette Stingray and a 1988 Lamborghini Countach swapping paint on the track — contains footage that may be unsuitable for small children and, you know, anyone who loves cars. Viewer discretion is advised.

If only Dean had had more time, he'd have been like Paul Newman... only better! He wouldn't have messed around with boring ol' Datsuns, instead sticking with Porsches, and he'd have solved Africa's economic problems simply by stepping from his helicopter. Well, probably not, but at least we get to see this cool alternative ending to the famous Porsche-versus-Ford wreck. Thanks to the reader who sent in this tip; I'd give you a hat tip, but your identity has been washed away like the bits on my recently deceased hard drive.