Advertising trends... "edgy", or flatly unacceptable?
 

Evil Car.

So i guess the question here is... what do you all think of this?

I would like to get the general consensus on this type of advertisement.

Do you think they're pushing the envelope, just for shock value, or do you think it was (as I do) an honest attempt at being funny? Do you think they should burn in hell?

Please, share your thoughts.

I think it's hilarious.


It's a video- it's small, less than 1MB so it won't take long to get, even for the dial-ups, and i'm hosting it myself so we don't have to worry about it being shut off or anything.

Please, TFP'ers... send me your feelings.

Also, I really don't want to hear from anyone who didn't see it. I don't want to see a post that says, "someone told me about it and i didn't see it, but..." but nothing. Watch it and comment on it, or make room for the next person. That's like writing a review on a movie you never saw- just don't do it. :)

EDIT: In my haste to post this, I did not fully research the video's origins. Apparently, it is not playing anywhere, and is not endorsed by Ford at all. It was a "concept" that they say was never supposed to have been made, as they refused it.

Props to djtestudo for the link to snopes.

my reaction : jaw hanging down with a smile on my face.
the fact that i knew it wasn't real made it almost funny, but i think the humor was overwhelmed by my shock.

...

but yeah, that was pretty great. I think ill watch it again.

as for a commercial, i dont think that would pass right now. but as analog mentioned, there are trends, and i could easily see this being on tv in the future.

as for it's purpose...i think it was for shock value (which it accomplishes VERY effectively). But without the text at the end (which i wasn't able to read due to my state of shockitude) I would have been lost.

// i voted 'kinda funnny'

it's no differen than the first one with the car flipping up its hood to whack the pigeon.

all digital, so no animals were hurt. for the AMERICANS, note this car isn't being marketed in the US so the commercials are for the US marketplace.

i think they are humorous, the cat is a bit over the top but still harmless. the ads are supposed to be from "the evil twin" series... which doesn't seem to be around anymore.

If you're interested: http://snopes.com/photos/commercials/sportka.asp

Yeah, that left my jaw on the floor. Wow. Doesn't offend me, just really suprises me. Good to see companies taking more risks.

If that was for like a WRX, it would make me want one even more, though honestly, i'm curious, is that car all souped up or something and hence "evil and faster?"

I think it's the struggling and the roof motor sound that pushes it from 'surprising' to 'shocking'. I suppose the absence of blood and fine detail kinda keeps it from entering the realm of 'disgusting'.

The shocking nature of the ad is precisely what they've designed it to be - note the reference to viral marketing over at snopes. I guess we here are now part of this viral campaign...eh, so be it.

Heh was my reaction.

I thought it was absolutely hilarious, but that's me and my sense of humor.

Life is too important to take seriously.

Up to the beheading, I thought it was kind of funny. I think the beheading was over the line.

i'm with redlemon on this one.

i think it would have been fine if the kitty's head was caught and it was all struggling... then, maybe the car let out some malicious horn-laughter or whatever, and its headlights blinked, and then fire rained down from the heavens and the car drove atop a pile of human skulls and lazers were flashing all around.

but beheading a cat is no good to me. i love cats.

Whenever I try to play the video, Media Player crashes.

I'm still cracking up over the website that claims it goes "from 0 to 62 in a breathtaking 9.7 seconds" My 3600-pound Buick can do that

Yep. What redlemon said pretty much sums up my feelings on this one. Even though you know that it's fake, that imagery is still there. I tend to think that it would've been funnier if the "evil" car had simply trapped the cat. But, then again, we all know what curiosity got the cat. ;)

This is what actually made me laugh, the struggling part. What is it they say "curiosity killed the cat"...literally in this commercial. The beheading going to far is questionable for me.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately too. I've noticed 99% of commercials are just a template, and they fill in the blanks. Unfortunately, I'm distracted with something else right now and I can't really elaborate on details, but I think you know what I mean.

However, when I see a commercial that really tries to push the envelope, it really sticks with me. Especially really, really bizarre commercials that have little to do with the product. Those almost always have me buying the item, even if I don't want it. It probably also ties in with my sense of humor, which is a little tilted for some people ;)

Agreed. I think the cat just hopping on the top of the car and falling through the sunroof with it closing would have been pretty funny. No need to decapitate the poor creature.

Yep, this is how I feel too. Like other people have said, it was very funny up until it got its head chopped off. It was funny enough that the cat was stuck, they should have just left it there. But I am one of the few cat lovers out there, I'm probably just biased. :p

no more paw prints on the hood, eh? commercial seems like it would do well in the European market, as for the states, probably not, people don't let shit like that go.

it was funny, as an advertisement .

I feel bad saying it, but I thought it was hilarious. Of course that would be horrible if it were real, but obviously it's not. I e-mailed the link to some friends of mine and a couple of them didn't have the same feelings....they are both cat lovers of course. I love cats as well, but I still thought it was funny.

I guess the sunroof opening after the beheading to burp would have been overkill. Good ad.

that would have had me falling out of my chair:lol:

I almost hurled.

I have tears running down my face...


from fuckin' laughing so hard.

i love this ad.
loved it the first time, love it this time.

i love how it goes that unexpected (beheading) step.

i may be hilarious, but i'm not going out to buy a Ka.

Almost got a laugh out of me, the commercial was just way too predictable to be that funny, although my first guess was that the car would just start itself and run the cat over.
In this age, when things like goatse and tubgirl are just a mouse click away, it's become pretty much impossible to offend me.
Replace the cat with a child and I would have been uncomfortable, but as it stands, I've already forgotten this commercial.

Edit - I suppose I would have been surprised if I saw this ad on TV without any foreknowledge that it was controversial, but I still don't think I would have been offended.

i have watched it 5 times now... cant stop laughing... the head droping is priceless.. (hold on must watch again) lol priceless... thank you u have made my day.

seems a bit to bold for conservative US market.. but its great.

k well im going to go watch it again.

The second one with the bird is almost as funny but just as evil and wrong.

Evil Car 2

Muahahahahahahah!!

That was fucking hilarious. I haven't laughed that much in a long time! Thanks a lot for posting it!

Grade A funny, shame america is full of pussy censorships (No pun intended) so good comericals like this will never happen.

Shit! The bird one is 20 times funnier, omg, hahahaha.

its pretty funny... but as a commercial it would completely ostricize the cat loving part of their market... not very cool...


but it is damn funny!

That's awesome!!!

They could probably get away with that ad in Europe...

I think it's brilliant. The beheading is essential, because until then it's just a standard semi-humourous ad, but as soon as the cat slides down the windshield it breaks boundaries. That's what advertisement is about, catching viewers off-guard.

That's just my sense of humour though ;)

Cute commercial. Didn't really like the beheading of the cat. I like cats. I don't think American's would be ready for this kind of advertisement. I wasn't.

No way. I'm certainly a cat lover, and I found this pretty funny. It's completely unreal, so I don't see any problem.
(Had it been a gang of youth beheading a cat, then that wouldn't have been cool!)

Realistically, I don't think any tv station would air this commercial. If they wanted to make a "safe-for-tv" version, then they could do the same thing, except just leave the cat with his head caught in the sun roof. That would be still hilariously funny, and would be ok to show on tv.

I have 3 cats, and have owned cats since I was 5 years old. I found both commercials funny and over the top in a good way. It's very clear a real cat isn't killed. There was no arterial spray, shit there wasn't even a spot of blood in the clip anywhere. It's made purposely fake that anyone can tell nothing really happened to either animal, so why get in arms over it?

I coulndn't have said it better myself. I like the pigeon one better though, heh.

I found the commercial funny....but that beheading had me in a state between laughter and shock (laughter won out). I do agree that the beheading part would be too offensive for most people.

I also agree that the pigeon one is much funnier (then again pigeon's aren't "cute" and are called flying rats).

The commercials I have the most problem with are those perfume/clothing commercials that you have no idea what is being sold.

note: i kinda went off topic on my rant there... sorry

I have seen this on like 2 other thread's so When i saw it the first time i was kinda confused if the cat was real then I remembered about the animal rules.
It was not some thing That i thought was to funny but it was funny to see my little nieces watch it and cry lol.

The pigeon was horribly funny.

The cat one was pretty funny until the head came off. It's not offensive just "meh." They had it and lost it just like that.

The pigeon one had something that the cat commercial didn't; I just can't put my finger on it.

I'm not amused by either version. With the flap over Janet and the Superbowl, this brings up the "violence is ok, nudity is bad" argument again. I know it's not "real" violence, but what "entertainment" violence on TV is?

I'm not saying ban it. I just don't care for it just for the "shock value."

that was funny, but disturbing. i mean i laughed, but you need to be careful about that kind of shit.