The latest VW Jetta commercials are friendly happy scenes of people driving in their cars. Then suddenly....CRASH!!!! They are involved in a massive collision with the airbags saving their lives. They really are shocking. An omen?
--Eugene Fina
The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast demononstated advertisers' knack for getting out in front of a decline in social mood back in 2001. This was discussed in Sociotimes last August 23. We first started to notice a potential link in 2000 when a top was in for stocks and more and more commercials started to includes scenes in which something bad happens to somebody: a pie in the face, the building blows up or a bear shows up and he's not a happy camper. By 2001, marketers were obviously getting traction with man-eating displays because a whole slew of mad bears appeared to help sell a variety of products (see last August's entry). In 2006, the bearish parade continues with a popular Bud Light ad in which a man tries to save himself with the help of his beer (he gets mauled anyway when his friend takes off with it). At this point, it almost seems like its hard to sell anything without sticking somebody in some way. But this Volkswagon ad may take the phenomenon to a whole new level. A persistent infliction of pain appears to be giving way to a real jolt. |
