Acura Follows Mitsubishi Off The Beaten Path

Mitsubishi is a brand so forgotten that no one will even notice that we practically swiped their commercial, this had to be the thinking in the ad agency war room that created Acura's "The Clear Path Commercial" for the MDX.  That or perhaps it's an incredible coincidence as there is a chance that the MDX commercial was created before the Outlander ad came out but released later. Or the same agency did both ads. Regardless, both ads feature a CUV stuck in traffic making a sharp 90 degree turn and escaping the ordinary life of bumper to bumper for a road much more open and scenic. Notice the way both ads focus on the steering wheel to symbolize the departure. Of course, there is a huge difference as the Outlander turns left and the MDX turns right. Aside from that both have the CUVs "finding your own lane" and "beating the beaten path" thanks to their advanced technology.

Ad Spot: Buick

Kentucky has caught up and there is a close if low scoring NCAA National Championship game. As one of the premier March Madness sponsors Buick gets to put its name on the official watch anywhere app and buy lots of commercials in the regular broadcast. Unfortunately, Buick is spending all that money on a brand commercial that isn't as good as it should be considering the cash outlay. For unexplained reasons half the people have absolutely zero idea that they are staring directly at a Buick right in front of them. Sure, Buick's lineup is recently refreshed but all of the models have been out for at least a few years with the same general shape and a few of them sell in significant numbers to be pretty common cars on the road. Of course everyone involved is highly impressed by the cars that they see and are shocked to learn that they are Buicks. Certainly the ad aims to get more people to consider a Buick for their next purchase and will get some people to do so but I struggle to see the audience getting really excited about a product that acknowledges its lack of popularity and brand heat. The ad works well enough as a standard primetime TV ad but when you are spending nearly Superbowl type money you would expect something more memorable so people can you know remember your brand.