GM turns on creative juice in marketing EV1 electric car

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 27, 1996 by Brian S. Akre Associated Press

TROY, Mich. -- With the help of waddling toasters, flying fans and an army of other appliances come to life, General Motors Corp. launches a media blitz next week to introduce its electric car to California and Arizona.

GM isn't saying how much it plans to spend on the campaign for the EV1, but officials said the ads will saturate the four urban markets where the two-seater becomes available for lease Dec. 5.

"If you're alive in these markets over the next few months, you'll see one of these ads," said Joe Kennedy, vice president of sales, service and marketing for GM's Saturn Corp. subsidiary, which will market the EV1. On the night of Dec. 5, television viewers in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., will see the introductory, 90- second EV1 commercial put together by Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects studio started by Star Wars creator George Lucas. It features dozens of electric appliances that come alive, squeaking and gurgling in anticipation as they hurriedly hop, roll and fly out of their suburban homes and onto the curb to witness the arrival of the EV1. In the background is a score that sounds like a cut from the ET soundtrack. The only voice-over comes as the car stops and the appliances crowd around it on the street: "The electric car is here." The attention-grabbing commercial is something of a departure for the normally conservative GM and even for its more creative Saturn unit, whose down-home ads featuring Saturn workers and owners have become its trademark. "We presented some very scary stuff for EV advertising, and our partners at Saturn ... went with some of these bizarre recommendations," said Steven Morrissey, senior vice president at Hal Riney & Partners Inc., the San Francisco firm that has the Saturn ad account. The campaign focuses on the uniqueness of the first electric car intended for mass production by a Big Three automaker. In one highly stylized magazine ad, the EV1 is a silvery blur racing down a desolate road. "You will never again use the words, `Fill `er up.' Or `check the oil,'" the ad reads. "Never utter the need for a tune-up. Or a smog check. Nope. You will simply say, `Unplug the car and let's go.'" In addition to TV, the campaign will use newspapers, magazines, billboards, theaters and the Internet. "Teaser ads" began appearing Monday on 27 billboards in Southern California. "You can't hear it coming, but it is," they read. On Dec. 4, they'll be changed to state, "The electric car is here." Target buyers for the car are 35-54 years old, college graduates with family incomes of more than $125,000 and a strong interest in the environment and new technology. Much of the magazine advertising will appear in upscale publications, such as Architectural Digest, The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly. The car is being targeted in the Southwest in part because California has mandated that electric vehicles comprise 10 percent of cars sold in that state by 2003. The region's warm climate and commuter lifestyle also are well- suited to the EV1's lead-acid batteries, which have a range of 70-90 miles per charge.