Cadillac vs Ford

[aim-high]

Ford is giving Americans a choice: Either you can be a self-absorbed Cadillac owner who spends his entire life working so he can buy expensive things, or a civic-minded Ford owner who pours her heart and soul into a project aimed at making the world a better place.

Ford Just Absolutely Destroyed Cadillac’s Ad Praising Rich Guys Who Work All The Time

I like what the Ford ad says. I think one of the reasons so many of us want to FIRE is because the Cadillac message doesn't resonate. I do get inspired by the many here who FIRE with plenty left in the tank work wise and then use that to make the world a better place in whatever way they choose.

 

[Andre1969]

The Ford ad definitely hits home with me more than the Caddy ad does. In fact, my main takeaway from the Caddy ad is that hey, I'd like to take August off, too! And, I picture a workaholic who's never going to be satisfied and truly happy with what he has, so he's going to keep working, and drop dead from a heart attack in the office. The actor playing that guy doesn't even look all that healthy, in my opinion!

 

[Jack_Pine]

I like both those commercials. Never thought I would own a Cadillac but I just bought a CTS "courtesy car" 10k miles and like new. but at a greatly reduced price.

BTW, my F350 ford almost cost twice what the Caddy did.

 

[frayne]

The guy in the caddy ad has played as about every sleazy character you can think of. Didn't care for the ad or him as far as that goes.

 

[ERhoosier]

The guy in the caddy ad has played as about every sleazy character you can think of. Didn't care for the ad or him as far as that goes.

+1

I wonder if Ford might do a follow-on commercial with old film of Sam Walton driving his '79 Ford 150 pick-up. Not commenting on what today's WM has become, but unpretentious Sam was infinitely more 'successful' than the pompous a$$ in the Caddie commercial.

Lessons on Humility from the Life of Sam Walton at Clever Dude Personal Finance and Money

 

[Midpack]

Clever, thanks for the link. However, I don't think the Caddy ad will sway potential Ford buyers, nor will the Ford ad sway potential Caddy buyers. Both are just trying telling their mostly established buyers what they want to hear, which is the essence of effective advertising. The biggest lie of all is the 'you deserve product X angle,' when you buy 'product X' you're probably enriching the seller more than yourself. Amazing how many people are fooled time and time again. Most here probably aren't...

 

[Andre1969]

I used to think of Cadillac as a status symbol, back in the day when credit wasn't so easy, so usually the only people who drove them were ones who could truly afford them. Not those who would lease them, or go deep into hock just so they could drive around in one and put on airs.

I have a good friend who's a Cadillac fan, but he doesn't care for any of the new ones. His last new one was a 2007 DTS, and it's a pretty nice car. IMO, the new ones just don't seem like "real" Cadillacs. The ATS and CTS are trying to go after the BMW crowd, which is another lease/go-into-hock crowd. The SRX and Escalade just can't shake off their Chevy roots, IMO. And with the XTS, I just don't find it attractive. The Impala probably does everything the XTS does, at about 2/3 the price. And looks a lot better, in my opinion.

 

[racy]

Personally, I don't care for either too much: not looking for political philosophy's when researching vehicles. Just shut up and feature the vehicle, like this!

 

[Hermit]

I thought the Ford add was a hilarious spoof! Had all the right political elements in it. So far as the cars, I am not in the market for a car.

 

[RunningBum]

The guy in the caddy ad has played as about every sleazy character you can think of. Didn't care for the ad or him as far as that goes.

I saw him first as Lt. Buck Compton in Band of Brothers, so that's how I'll always see him. I guess I didn't see many of the movies or shows where he was sleazy to change my mind.

That said, I didn't care for the Cadillac commercial message, and agree McDonough doesn't look healthy in it.

 

[ERD50]

I never 'got' all the angst over that Caddy commercial. I mean, it's a commercial, designed to sell cars.

I thought it was pretty clever, kind of 'in your face' but I didn't really think it was insulting to others, just more like "Hey, this is the way some of us are, hard-working and hard-playing", and it's likely that a hard working person like that is the target market more than someone who values free time over money. So they hit their target. I thought it was more like a good-natured poke at people who do it differently, not really condescending. It made me chuckle, not get upset - even though I don't subscribe to that way of thinking, I don't want to skip vacations to afford a 'nicer' car.

The Ford commercial probaby goes further in rubbing me the wrong way. It seems arrogant and 'holier than thou'. Hey, the Caddy guy was being honest. But this was 'look how much better I am than you, I support 'grow local' and drive an EV'. We've discussed in other threads how the 'grow local' is often worse for the environment - mass transportation is efficient, economy of scale reduces waste. Grow local often ends up taking more resources. And I've gone on and on about how EVs have marginal to negative environmental effects.

And throw in a little French at the end? Was I supposed to be impressed?

The Ford commercial has me saying "Give me a break".

-ERD50

 

[MichaelB]

So, does this mean the car companies are no longer going to use songs from the 70's about drugs, sex and non-conformism to sell cars? Kinda makes me a bit nostalgic.

 

[calmloki]

Caddy ad was just fun. America F*#K Yeah!

 

[chris66]

Ford Just Absolutely Destroyed Cadillac’s Ad Praising Rich Guys Who Work All The Time

I like what the Ford ad says. I think one of the reasons so many of us want to FIRE is because the Cadillac message doesn't resonate. I do get inspired by the many here who FIRE with plenty left in the tank work wise and then use that to make the world a better place in whatever way they choose.

Exactly! I'm not planning on any car purchase anytime soon, and I don't think an ad would influence me. However, the contrasts of these 2 different philosophies was brilliant!

Definitely, part of why I'm retiring early is so that I can spend more of my energy making a positive contribution. Although I have gone through various, and often surprising, emotions because of so much changes happening at once. Much of my transient self doubt was from the "Cadillac philosophy" folks in my life (not saying anything about the cars themselves -- just the ideas in the ad).

ETA - and I get that both were a bit tongue-in-cheek. Gave me and DH quite a laugh at the 2 side by side. Still, it resonated with me, too, as I prepare to stop working for money.

 

[RunningBum]

I never 'got' all the angst over that Caddy commercial. I mean, it's a commercial, designed to sell cars.

...

And throw in a little French at the end? Was I supposed to be impressed?

-ERD50

Both commercials had the same French line at the end, fwiw. I wasn't impressed by either, but I'm sure Ford did it to complete the putdown.

While I didn't care for the Caddy commercial, I'm not offended by it and wasn't compelled to comment except to make my Buck Compton comment. There are far worse commercials out there. There's a cell phone commercial, might be for a small regional provider, that shows 2 people and points out the much better rate for the one company. Person 1 is shown with a dull existence, while person 2 totally blows the excess money on a rooftop party or an animatronic robot or something like that. I have less respect for the 2nd person.

 

[easysurfer]

I could relate more with the Ford commercial than the Caddy. Easier to connect the dots of the message..from the waste to compost to plug in (didn't know the C-Max had a plugin.. I'm not a Ford person..except their blind spot mirrors) than from the swimming pool to house tour to the Caddy plug-in.

Also, the presenter of the Ford commercial seemed more talking to you than talking at you. Kinda like Brian Williams vs Scott Pelley for the evening news. Both successful in their own way, but a different manner of presentation.

 

[frayne]

What was the French word and its meaning at the end of both commercials ?

 

[Midpack]

What was the French word and its meaning at the end of both commercials ?

N'est-ce pas - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

 

[ERD50]

Both commercials had the same French line at the end, fwiw. I wasn't impressed by either, but I'm sure Ford did it to complete the putdown. ...

Ahh, you're right. I missed that as I didn't re-watch the Caddy one before posting, and I guess I must have tuned-out by then when I would see it on-air. The Caddy guy is also plugging in his Caddy EV.

But again, it's just a commercial. But people got all worked up about the 'message'. Heck, you either agree or disagree or don't care, they are not forcing their message on you. They are just selling cars (as Midpack pointed out - going right to their target audience).

And I just noticed by re-viewing it, when the Caddy guy talks about the other countries, he also throws in a "Those other countries think we're nuts. But whatever. ...."

So little things like the "But whatever...." is what makes it feel more self-deprecating (or self-acknowledging?) than condescending.

I hate almost all advertising, it annoys the heck out of me, and I can't believe most companies are so poor at it it. On a scale from 1-10, I'd probably rate 1/3 of commercials with a negative number, as they are just plain annoying, or actually make their target customers appear stupid, or just totally miss out on dong anything positive for their product. Few would get above a "+3" rating from me. I might give the Caddy commercial a "+5", I like the 'sass' factor (that is still a long way from a '+10'). I'm undecided on this Ford one, I guess clever to parody the Caddy one, beyond that, I don't know.

-ERD50

 

[John Galt III]

Just as long as it's not that smug dude in the blue jeans and baseball cap who looks like he never worked a day in his life, advertising pickup trucks................

 

[Chuckanut]

My take away from the Caddy ad is that me and another 30 to 40 guys will have to work overtime for free, and get little vacation, so this one jerk can have his toys that he seems to value more than his time. And get his arrogant ego massaged.

What!?!?!? The guy drives a hybrid Caddy?!?! Oh, Dear!

 

[ERD50]

Just as long as it's not that smug dude in the blue jeans and baseball cap who looks like he never worked a day in his life, advertising pickup trucks................

+1 - those always fit the annoying category for me. What the heck does baseball-cap-dude have to do with why I should buy this car?

-ERD50

 

[Chuckanut]

+1 - those always fit the annoying category for me. What the heck does baseball-cap-dude have to do with why I should buy this car?



-ERD50

Me too!! Now the hot gal in the short skirt and tight low-cut top must surely have some reasons for me to buy a car.

 

[ERD50]

Me too!! Now the hot gal in the short skirt and tight low-cut top must surely have some reasons for me to buy a car.

Makes perfect sense to me!

-ERD50

 

[unclemick]

Me too!! Now the hot gal in the short skirt and tight low-cut top must surely have some reasons for me to buy a car.

Loved those hot rod pictures.

Now a gas sucking, rubber burning, stoplight to stoplight 32 Ford retro rod - that would make Jay Leno jealous - kept in the the garage and only driven on Sundays in good weather.



heh heh heh - walk, bike and drive a used Honda Fit. But! If I go back to work in August - save my pennies(Beach Boy pun) I can recapture my youth - or not.