Friends Don’t Let Friends…

The creativity of marketing geniuses never ceases to amaze me.  I just heard a car dealership advertisement on the radio that said, “Friends don’t let friends drive junk.”  What a catchy spin-off of the drunk driving prevention campaign!

On the surface it is easy to see that isn’t subtle marketing at all.  They know it’s a bit of a cheesy statement and it isn’t going to directly influence anyone to immediately rush out to that particular dealership and buy a car simply because they heard that tag-line.  That’s not likely to happen, but we will remember that tag-line and the dealership who said it.

However, whether we like it or not, the message, “friends don’t let friends drive junk,” is subliminally programming us to care what others think about what we’re driving.  We can allow that subliminal message to take root in our mind and grow into thoughts of self-consciousness about our image.  Or we can run that message through a brain cell.

The last time I noticed anyone I consider a true friend could really care less what kind of vehicle I drive.  In fact, I’d say any “friend” who truly judges our “junk” purely on image value is probably not a true friend in the first place.  But maybe I’m taking this too far.
Anyway – I think if the “friends don’t let friends drive junk” tag line is supposed to parallel the implication of the original “friends don’t let friends drive drunk” tag line then said friends would take the keys from me and provide a better alternative for me.  If that’s the case I’m open to whatever better alternative for my junk that you guys come up with 🙂

 

 

 

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