Poolside and Lovin' It

There has been a lot of drama and controversy about Cadillac's Poolside ad, and I'm excited to throw my two cents in on this one. Maybe I'm a bit archaic in my hopes and dreams, because this depiction looks just like my model of The American Dream. He's talking about all those things that make America different, and made us as a nation, into a powerhouse in the world, and especially after Congress bailed out General Motors, a little pro-America propaganda seems appropriate. I agree with the message, and I love that they are propping up America with an electric car that I could theoretically charge with a giant plug in my own house.

"Why do we work so hard?  For this?  For stuff?"  I seriously felt like he was striking the right balance between the things that are positive about our Protestant work ethic and the more modern goals of most Americans.  I completely agreed with him, and it made me want to buy the car, because a) it looks awesome, b) it's an actually classy Caddy, and c) it is electric, which is pretty cool.  If I ever get rich enough to walk into a closet and instantly reappear in a suit, I'd buy this car.

Others have seriously disagreed with my stance, understandably.  It recalls the reactions of many to comments like those espoused in this Cracked.com article, especially the scene from Glengarry Ross.  (If you have 7 minutes to get shouted out by Alec Baldwin, take the time, it is a great video.)  It reminds me of comments made by certain recent presidential candidates.  The thing about these videos is that some comments are not made for everyone.  As anyone interested in marketing should know, the smart business segments and targets the consumers who need or want the message, so as not to waste resources on segments that aren't interested in their product or service.

Cadillac has fallen into the exquisite trap of either hitting the message directly on the head, and speaking directly to their consumers in exactly the way the consumers wished to be spoken to, or, tragically, missing the mark completely and isolating a huge faction of possible (but unlikely) consumers.  As the Cracked writer comments, you are either inspired by Glengarry Ross, or you're not, and there is no middle ground.  In politics, it's even worse, because what to some may seem a fairly innocuous statement of perceived facts can be reinterpreted by others as a vicious attack against an entire half of a country's population.

But we must bear in mind what's happening here: this is an ad for the kind of people who will be inspired by this ad.  The thing that distresses me about the reactions that most have had to this commercial is that they seem to think that every ad is supposed to reach every consumer all the time, in the same way.  We still live in an advertising world dominated by television commercials, and TV is one of the most wide-reaching, mass-dispersal kinds of advertising out there.  So of course, people may feel like all commercials are supposed to be reaching them.  But that's just not the case!  If it puts you off, that means it's not for you.  But don't freak out about it and call for heads and fines and pull the ad from the air.  Let the commercial go, and don't buy a Cadillac (or at least not this one).  There is a little bit of a kick-in-the-teeth feel to the ad, the actor who is portraying the role is a little, how can I say this lightly... White-bread America.  If you're going to make the case for a strong work ethic and getting ahead in life, could you have at least shown a woman or a minority (and not as the gardener)?  Personally I am not bothered by the choice of actor, but I can definitely see how the critics feel that his message is a little disingenuous coming from a guy like our toe-headed friend from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?.

If you're going to target a segment, which you should because it's smart to do, at least try to soften the blow for the segment that you have to talk around.  Because building bad blood with consumers who you might later target with other ads is just not smart planning.  But man, I do hope we go back to the moon...