The hotshot German carmaker, BMW, is running a new print ad heralding its certified, pre-owned models
(read: used cars). The headline declares: ‘One of our finest hours, revisited.’
The copy’s obvious intent is to emphasize that a pre-owned BMW is still a great automobile, which it very well may be.
But, the copywriter clearly doesn’t have any sense of history. At the absolute height of the Battle of
Britain when Nazi bombs were raining down on London and elsewhere, Prime Minister Winston Churchill rallied his fellow Brits by proclaiming, “…if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour.””
Whether it’s ignorance or insensitivity, the BMW ad is an unnecessary image and reputation gaffe that should be rectified faster than a Nazi Panzer tank blitzkrieging its way through France in June of 1940.
Sadly, the ad copy is just another example of today’s generation having absolutely no sense of what went before.
You’re right, Steve, but it’s happened before.
Several years ago, working PR for a Japanese car company, we had to take heat for the first of the big 0% financing ad campaigns that Detroit later adapted (and helped lead it to the current mess it’s in).
The ad agency – whose owner/creative guru is VERY high profile on cable TV now – came up with “0-0-0.” And of course the NY Times business section called us to point out that a namesake company of the same car maker built the deadly “Zero” planes that killed many U.S. pilots in the early days of World War II. Not good.
We were dismissive of that particular story as being snotty and arcane, we handled it in an honest and forthright manner, and the furor went away quickly. However, it didn’t help to build a brand reputation that was to be done in by mediocre product, loan defaults (don’t give credit to people who can’t afford your cars!) and poor U.S. leadership. Now can you guess which company? But we did get them great PR for awhile!
You’re right, Steve, but it’s happened before.
Several years ago, working PR for a Japanese car company, we had to take heat for the first of the big 0% financing ad campaigns that Detroit later adapted (and helped lead it to the current mess it’s in).
The ad agency – whose owner/creative guru is VERY high profile on cable TV now – came up with “0-0-0.” And of course the NY Times business section called us to point out that a namesake company of the same car maker built the deadly “Zero” planes that killed many U.S. pilots in the early days of World War II. Not good.
We were dismissive of that particular story as being snotty and arcane, we handled it in an honest and forthright manner, and the furor went away quickly. However, it didn’t help to build a brand reputation that was to be done in by mediocre product, loan defaults (don’t give credit to people who can’t afford your cars!) and poor U.S. leadership. Now can you guess which company? But we did get them great PR for awhile!