Real You: Volkswagen may be 8th in consumer loyalty, but Routan mom “comedy” misses the mark

Posted on | November 14, 2008 |

by Kaira Sturdivant Rouda

First it was the Brook Shields commercials blaming German engineering for an explosion in births in the U.S. That’s funny. People having babies in order to justify buying a Routan Minivan. Problem with those spots is the pregnant women in each spot come across as idiots. Shields begs husbands to stop them from making such a big mistake and such. I like Brook Shields, and I loved my first Rabbit convertible, and I’m a football mom. But the whole campaign is more creepy than resonant. Demeaning humor is demeaning, and disturbing. Shields stocking pregnant women is creepy. All in all, I know it’s hard to come up with a different perspective when you’re selling the same features, but with this type of budget, there is a better way. I wonder if there was a woman on the the account?

Similarly, the viral Routan Minivan Miniseries by Crispin, best known for the infamous Subservient Chicken campaign. As the creative director told Ad Age, “We couldn’t do Subservient Minivan.” Well, that would’ve been better than subservient soccer mom. The series of viral videos, on the MLS Soccer Playoff site and on YouTube, feature a soccer mom who has been tapped to drive the playoff trophy to L.A. She’s so excited in the first episode that she strands her own soccer kids along the side of the road in the rain.

I’m so not cracking up.

It’s an interesting tactic to make fun of your target audience in your advertising. Most advertisers would offer discounts at this rough economic time, or relate to the audience in a compassionate way, reflecting all these moms are juggling to make ends meet today. Sure, compassion and value has been done before. But I’d take an interesting twist on those values than be made fun of anyday.

Demeaning humor is easy. True creativity in these times will be the treasure in any campaign.

Kaira Sturdivant Rouda, author of Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs, is a small business and entrepreneur marketing expert, speaker and consultant.

Comments

4 Responses to “Real You: Volkswagen may be 8th in consumer loyalty, but Routan mom “comedy” misses the mark”

Greg Smalter
November 14th, 2008 @ 11:48 am

I too get tired of demeaning advertising as well, only I’m talking about the advertising that shows men as dolts and morons. I get tired of it, but I don’t get insulted by it.

I have enough confidence in my own self image that it doesn’t phase me that for effect, men are frequently portrayed as foolish and primitive. Some men are. I know that I am not a caveman (although I respond like one sometimes) and I am not offended when GEICO uses a caveMAN to allude to stupid consumers. Imagine the uproar if they used a caveWOMAN in the same ads. At least GEICO knows not to do that.

There’s something in women’s collective psyche that is sensitive to the least little advertising indignity. Why is that? Is it the assumption that men are behind all advertising? If we could identify the trigger then maybe we could make more effective ads, ones that don’t pull that trigger.
Holly Buchanan
November 17th, 2008 @ 3:25 pm

I think one of the reasons why this campaign does not work for me is because I also don’t find it funny.

I don’t find it offensive, but there is nothing about the soccer mom character that I can relate to, and certainly nothing I want to aspire to.

So I guess I’m a little unclear on what VW’s strategy here is? If it’s to create a webisode that’s funny to soccer moms, so they’ll spread it virally - I’m not sure they succeeded.

And I didn’t see anything that makes me want to buy the car.

On the “women are too sensitive” part - all I’ll say is, moms in particular are SO judged in everything they do, I think they are sensitive to anything that feels condescending.

Whether they are right or wrong to be sensitive - that’s up for debate.

But if you are an advertiser and you know this about moms, why not make sure you test your ads in front of large groups of moms first?
Delia Passi
November 18th, 2008 @ 6:50 pm

Interesting comment from Greg. A question often asked of me, mind you from men, during my Selling to Women workshops is simply, Why? Why are more women sensitive, why do little things mean so much to her, why when I tell her I’m thinking of “nothing” she doesn’t believe me, why does she need more attention, why? The answer is simply, women and men are different. And guess what, its okay to be different!

As Holly share her sensitivities may be a result of cultural conditioning but lets face it, she tends to be more sensitive, more caring, more attentive to details, and on and on.

Once we can truly accept that being different is okay, that we need to respect gender and ethnic difference and embrace them, then I’ll be out of business so go ahead and let the debate continue!!
Kaira Sturdivant Rouda
November 19th, 2008 @ 3:05 pm

Hi Greg….and Holly and Delia!

The other point of the advertising’s portrayal of women is that STILL, today, most creative directors at the big agencies are men. The perspective to get campaigns right for women audiences just isn’t there yet - it can’t be because there isn’t parity at the top. Geico probably has an all-male creative team at their agency, too, and those guys think CaveMEN are funny. (And so do you since you admit to acting like one occaisionally.)
I’m not overly sensitive, I’m just paying attention. The Motrin moms aren’t sensitive either. They’re mad. The point, as Delia perfectly pointed out, is perspective. And, as Holly commented, moms are judged and stressed. When I see a big brand creating advertising that misses the mark, it makes me sad. With that type of budget, and the best creative minds money can buy, I expect more. And, if I’m the target audience, the least I expect is to not feel belittled.
Thanks for the comments!