I’m not sure you’ll never see this ad outside Italy because I don’t think the Fiat giant markets the Lancia brand beyond this fair land (because they are so ugly). Anyway they’ve brought out a new Delta model which actually isn’t bad looking if you ignore the front view. To help launch it they’re recruited the acting talents of no less than Richard Gere. This must be a car aimed solely at women, although it doesn’t look like a typical Clio-esque sort of thing (if that sounded sexist I apologise but you know what I mean), because I do not know a single man who would find odd-ball Richard plausible as a car enthusiast. He’s hardly Top Gere is he?
But the ad itself is the strangest thing. We all know Ricky is a fan of the Dalai Lama so the creative idea is to show him getting in his new Lancia in Hollywood and by lunch time he’s seen turning up in Lhasa or some other major city in Tibet. Oh that’s realistic. Which Interstate did he take for that, the Gerbil Highway? We seem him then fooling around with some Tibetan kid placing their hands in the snow, mirroring I guess the hands in the courtyard outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, thus snappily linking the story back to Hollywood.
What the f*ck this has got to do with selling the benefits of the car or developing the Lancia brand internationally I just do not know. I think it might be safe to assume that there won’t be many orders being placed for them in Peking. I guess they must be hoping for lots of orders from those Tibetan monks. Clever. 2 out of 10.
If you can find a deeper significance that I’m missing, please shout. Enjoy this piece of nonsense:
Just weird, no?
pp
Pasta Paulie 
You think that’s bizarre – well here’s the extended version of a current ad featuring the greatest living Frenchman http://www.king-eric.com/.
hi john
now that IS bizarre! 10 out of 10 j for finding it and sharing but just 2 out of 10 for the ad (and only because it features king eric). the worst name for a betting site i’ve ever come across.
pp
I think we’re seeing the future of branding and advertising. I’ve spoken about how increasingly fragmented the advertising terrain has become. Companies and products that want to stand out have got to make a racket and one way of doing this is designing advertising and marketing campaigns that get talked about and take on a life of their own. There is probably no better way of doing this than offending one group’s sensibilities while re-enforcing and complimenting another group’s. The Fiat ad does this since it was intended for airing in Europe where Free-Tibet sentiment is high. In the European market, the ad’s message is sure to resonate and build visibility and goodwill for the Fiat brand.
possibly john but it’s a subtle strategy and i’m sure it’s back-fired. fiat have been forced to apologise publicly to the Chinese authorities. the effect is to tarnish the brand in my view because fiat now look to be insensitive, misguided and cowed.
but lots of publicity eh…
anyway many thanks for checking in and for your insightful comments jt. you’re always welcome
pp