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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:22 am Post subject: Chevy Truck Commercial--John Mellencamp |
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There's a commercial for Chevy Truck Silverado that is playing constantly with John Mellencamp's new song "This Is Our Country".
I go irate every time I see it!!
Mellencamp claims it is a patriotic 'unity song'. Given his history as anti-war Bush- hating activist (he contributed and campaigned for Kerry in ' 04), I think it's subterfuge on his part.
LYRICS:
I can stand beside
Things I think are right
And I can stand beside
The idea of stand and fight
And I do believe
There’s a dream for everyone
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country
There's room enough here
For science to live
And there's room enough here
For religion to forgive
And try to understand
The other people of this world
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country
That poverty could be
Just another ugly thing
And bigotry could be
Seen only as obscene
And the ones that run this land
Will help the poor and common man
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country
The dream will never leave
And some day it will come true
And it’s up to me and you
To do the best that we can do
And let the voice of freedom
Sing out through this land
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country
The words alone are simple and innocuous enough, but the video is dredged up from 1970 hippie anti-war protest complete with our American flag emblazoned with the old peace sign (broken cross) on it, a snippet of Vietnam war film, and Nixon waving goodbye from the top step of Air Force One. The end of the commercial says yes, this is our country and THIS is our Silverado. WHAAAT!!
Why the flashbacks to Vietrnam war protests and Nixon? I see this commercial as subliminal anti-war.
What the H&LL is General Motors thinking with this commercial?? Gonna sell a lot of Chevy Trucks to the aging hippies?? My husband joked that they are not only outsourcing their production jobs to foreign countries, they must have outsourced their advertising department to France.
Kumbaya everyone??
p.s.--I did a search for John Mellencamp This Is Our Country-- All the lefty sites LOVE it. Guess that's GM's market target.
Well I just wrote to General Motors telling them that after buying many GM vehicles over the years, they have lost my business.
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
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| Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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My wife has been shopping for a new vehicle for the past couple of weeks and had narrowed her picks down to a small Chevy and a Toyota. She saw the Chevy commercial and it made up her mind for her. She's going with the Toyota. I think she was leaning towards the Toyota anyway, but the Chevy commercial cinched it.
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Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
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NortonPete
PO2
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 385
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| Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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Anyone who does not buy or own a Ford is a Commie.
In my world its that simple.  |
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USAFE5
PO2
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 362
Location: Reno Nevada
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| Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:03 am Post subject: |
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I take umbridge at that comment. My family drives only Chrysler and Dodge products. Wouldn't own a Chevy if I won it (live in Vegas it's possible) or a FORD.
I do thing the politicalization of a truck ad is beyond the pale. GM should look at this and it's bottom line, they will both be together at the bottom of the....hole.
_________________
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I’m here to help." Ronald Reagan |
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NortonPete
PO2
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 385
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| Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:17 pm Post subject: |
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| USAFE5 wrote: | Wouldn't own a Chevy if I won it (live in Vegas it's possible) or a FORD.
I do thing the politicalization of a truck ad is beyond the pale. GM should look at this and it's bottom line, they will both be together at the bottom of the....hole. |
Well your not half bad. The comment has a joke or a Razz . |
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USAFE5
PO2
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 362
Location: Reno Nevada
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| Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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ok so I am not half good either then? insert smilie face here...LOL
_________________
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I’m here to help." Ronald Reagan |
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LimaCharlie
PO2
Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 386
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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I bought a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid this Summer. The good news is I am averaging about 45 mpg in town and 52 mpg on the highway, with a current 47.6 overall average. The bad news is liberals in old Volvos and microbuses keep giving me the thumbs up and a five finger wave. In the Cadillac with Bush 2004 stickers that I traded in, they only gave me the single finger wave. I haven't changed, so I guess it is the car they are waving at.
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I was going to become an anarchist, but they had too many rules. |
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NortonPete
PO2
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 385
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| Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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| USAFE5 wrote: | | ok so I am not half good either then? insert smilie face here...LOL |
My neighbor and his Sons are big into rock crawling. They will only
run old Dodge Ramchargers from the '80s. They pound these beasts
unmercifully but they keep going. They used to all have Jeeps but
found true Heaven with their Dodges.
They do tow them with Fords. They want to get home.
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USAFE5
PO2
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 362
Location: Reno Nevada
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| Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:59 am Post subject: |
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ok so the fords get to do the light work right? on paved roads and freeways while the Dodge is out there having a blast, and resting all the way home LOL
_________________
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I’m here to help." Ronald Reagan |
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NortonPete
PO2
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 385
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| Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:39 am Post subject: |
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| USAFE5 wrote: | | ok so the fords get to do the light work right? on paved roads and freeways while the Dodge is out there having a blast, and resting all the way home LOL |
Yeah I guess its a fairly flat run home.  |
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Guest
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| Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:44 pm Post subject: |
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i seen one of his concerts about 18 years ago in nyc.
he swore right there he would never sell out to commercials. afraid as he said in his own words "i'd hate to see my song up on a pop-tart commercial".
he's a loser |
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I B Squidly
Vice Admiral
Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 879
Location: Cactus Patch
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| Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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The last satisfactory Chevy I had was a '66 lineman's truck. The last jingle I remember was Dinah Shore.
Today I've an Ohio built Honda in which to "See the USA".
_________________
"KILL ALL THE LAWYERS!"
-Wlm Shakespeare |
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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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powsmiassaid
| Quote: | i seen one of his concerts about 18 years ago in nyc.
he swore right there he would never sell out to commercials. afraid as he said in his own words "i'd hate to see my song up on a pop-tart commercial".
he's a loser |
You are so right. He always said he wouldn't have his music sullied by using it in commercials.
Which is why I believe he did this ad ONLY because he had a subliminal "loser America" leftist agenda to promote.
He has long been an activist promoting the meme of "racist America" and "disgrace" of government ignoring poverty. And HATING Bush and the war.
I agree with this writer deconstructing the ad:
| Quote: | Chevy's icky, exploitative new ad.
By Seth Stevenson
The spot: Singer John Mellencamp leans on the fender of a Chevy pickup, strumming an acoustic guitar. He sings, among other things, "This is our country." Meanwhile, a montage of American moments flies by: Rosa Parks on a bus. Martin Luther King preaching to a crowd. Soldiers in Vietnam. Richard Nixon waving from his helicopter. And then modern moments: New Orleans buried by Katrina floodwaters. The two towers of light commemorating 9/11. As a big, shiny pickup rolls through an open field of wheat and then slows to a carefully posed stop, the off-screen announcer says, "This is our country. This is our truck. The all-new Chevy Silverado."
This ad makes me—and, judging by my e-mail, some of you—very angry. It's not OK to use images of Rosa Parks, MLK, the Vietnam War, the Katrina disaster, and 9/11 to sell pickup trucks. It's wrong. These images demand a little reverence and quiet contemplation. They are not meant to be backed with a crappy music track and then mushed together in a glib swirl of emotion tied to a product launch. Please, Chevy, have a modicum of shame next time.
I should probably leave it at that (the poor ad is just trying to sell trucks, after all, in its own muddle-headed way). But this isn't your basic flag-waving car commercial. It mixes patriotic images with some heart-rending, shameful episodes from our past. And the ambiguity is furthered by the presence of John Mellencamp—a guy who, in a different incarnation, used to make semipolitical statements about the dark side of the American dream. A guy who wrote an open letter in 2003 arguing that the Iraq war was "solidifying our image as the globe's leading bully" and wondering why President Bush hadn't been "recalled" yet. Mellencamp once sang the line, "Ain't that America" with a decidedly bitter tinge. Now he sings the remarkably similar line, "This is our country," and it's hard not to wonder what he means by it.
Especially when Chevrolet adopts the phrase in a major ad campaign. Sure, you could dismiss those words, the way they're used in the ad, as meaningless, vaguely patriotic nonsense (and as a mild rip-off of Budweiser's "This Is Beer" slogan). But they're also a bold claim: Chevy's going to tell us what America is. And what exactly is America, in Chevy's view? Well, for one, of course, it's a light-duty, full-size pickup truck. But it's more than that, too. Listen to the chief creative officer at Chevy's ad agency, quoted in the press release: "We hope that 'Our Country. Our Truck.' [the title of the spot] will inspire people to think, 'Yeah. These are the bruises and scars that have shaped our nation, and we have rebuilt ourselves spiritually, emotionally and physically.' "
Ambitious stuff. Let's break down the ad piece by piece:
Mellencamp sings, "I can stand behind ideals I think are right" while we see Rosa Parks sitting on a bus. Fine, good, terrific. I think we can all stand behind the ideal of racial equality.
Next he sings, "And I can stand behind the idea to stand and fight," while we see soldiers in a field in Vietnam, helicopters chop-chopping above their heads. Wait, what? Is this a defense of the Vietnam War? A declaration that we pulled out too soon—should have been more willing to "stand and fight"? Is it a sly statement about our present Iraq dilemma? Is Chevy making the salted peanuts argument?
Next line: "I do believe there's a dream for everyone." Here we see MLK, dancing hippy freaks at Woodstock, and 1960s peace marchers. OK, so there's room in Chevy's worldview for some anti-violence memes, too. But are we meant to celebrate America both for getting into Vietnam and for getting out of it?
Here's where it gets introspective. Mellencamp sings, "This is our country" while we watch Richard Nixon, post-resignation, waving from the helicopter that will whisk him away from the White House in disgrace. That's our country? Shamed politicians? Drab, mid-'70s melancholia? Bummer, man.
But it gets worse. Mellencamp blah-blahs some empty lines like "from the East Coast, to the West Coast," while the ad shows footage of: 1) raging California brushfires, 2) Dale Earnhardt's stock car (presumably before he crashed it into a wall and killed himself), 3) Katrina floodwaters, 4) the 9/11 memorial. Yikes!
I realize the notion being pushed here is that we'll face these hardships together and—aided, perhaps, by the hauling and towing capacity of a 2007 Chevy Silverado—overcome them. That's why the Katrina and 9/11 shots are countered with scenes of firefighters and people rebuilding houses. But I still don't understand the purpose of including all this bleak stuff in the first place. (Other than to get some attention for pushing the envelope, which—for an established, down-to-earth product like a Chevy pickup—seems a misplaced goal.)
Maybe the red-state viewer, to whom the ad is likely directed (I assume that's the main target market for pickups), interprets the overall statement as an optimistic, can-do, morning-in-America kind of thing: We've come through the bad times and we're ready to kick some ass again. But to me, this spot feels more like the advertising equivalent of Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech.
It arrives at an awkward, unsettled moment in the American psyche (underscored by the 9/11 and Katrina imagery in the montage), and it almost seems the ad hopes to capture the essence and feeling of that moment. Dredging up all these depressing incidents in our recent past, and then saying, "This is our country," sure seems like an effort to address our "crisis of confidence."
I guess I'd ask Chevy: How'd that strategy work out for Carter?
Grade: D. Automotive blog Jalopnik reports that an early version of the ad included footage of a nuclear mushroom cloud.
Well, that would have brightened things up. I wonder if they could squeeze in the Rodney King beating and the Abu Ghraib photos, too.
Seth Stevenson is a frequent contributor to Slate. |
Article at http://www.slate.com/id/2151143/ has the video and more links.
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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davman
Lieutenant
Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 205
Location: Massachusetts
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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The engine on my truck (a Dodge) just went. It only had 80,000 mi. so I was not very happy. Although I considered buying a Chevy, but could not bring myself to do it. I think they underestimate the intelligence of the American public, and assume that we will think the song is patriotic because it comes across that way on the surface. I took the time to write Chevy and point that out to them!
http://www.chevrolet.com/contactus/ |
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:07 pm Post subject: |
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| The same way the media gets all weak in the knees everytime Lennon's "Imagine" is played. Then again, it's their credo so I guess it's legitimate. |
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