Silverado ads get "strong reactions" from viewers, hippies

"I'm meeting you halfway, you stupid hippies." (Futurama 2acv03, A Head in the Polls)

First, I'd like to preface this post by saying that I like full-size trucks, especially Chevy trucks. If they were more economical and ecologically sound to operate, I'd consider buying one. But apparently I'm a bad American, perhaps even a hippie.

So I tried to pause my DVR during an airing of a Chevrolet "Our Country. Our Truck" commercial last night in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the new Silverado, but I couldn't hit pause fast enough to catch that frame.

John Mellencamp sings "This is Our Country" (I kid you not) over a montage of pure Americana (R). Rosa Parks, the Twin Towers, Richard Nixon, Charles Whitman - flip, flip, flip. It's not that the spot exploits 9/11 or any other event or series of events in American history. It's that the spot exploits 9/11 and every other event and series of events in American history. It's hamfisted, manipulative crap that makes "We Didn't Start the Fire" appear sincere in comparison.

Autoweek quotes Bill Ludwig, the "Chief Creative Officer" of Campbell-Ewald, the advertising firm responsible for this piece of mungus:

Ludwig says he anticipated that the Silverado spot would generate complaints. The commercial is about America "and the knocks we have taken and pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps," he says. "Anytime you are provocative, you are going to elicit some provocative responses.

"If you want to make a statement that rings true with the majority of people, you are going to piss off some people. There are a lot of cynical people out there who don't react well to this, and a lot of people who will never get behind the wheel of a pickup.

"So let them get into their Volvo sedans and complain about this spot that they see as exploitive," he says. "This is not for them. The biggest risk you can take is to play it safe."

Exactly what GM needs right now! Someone to challenge potential buyers to not buy their products. So you hear that, dissenters and Volvo sedan drivers? GM's make-or-break product is not for you!