[Infowarrior] - That Damn Ram Challenge

[Richard Forno]

I couldn't agree more.  Bad timing, bad imagery, bad economy, and a  
total waste of advertising dollars on *so* many levels.....utterly  
stupid, to boot!    --rf


That Damn Ram Challenge
Posted by Dale Dougherty, November 17, 2008 2:53 PM |

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/11/17/that-damn-ram-challe.html

Since mid-October, Dodge has been rolling out its 2009 Ram truck with  
a set of commercials that run during NFL and college football games  
and elsewhere testosterone flows. These ads "feature" Dodge Ram trucks  
being driven into flaming buildings and around, through and over other  
kinds of obstacles. The slogan is "Never Back Down." The "shock-and- 
awe" ads direct you to a Yahoo website: ramchallenge.com for a series  
of webisodes. Here's the trailer, all part of a multimillion,  
multimedia extravangza that's enough to make you sick.

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Quick, jump in an oversized American-made truck, see how fast it can  
go downhill without crashing, next tow a heavy trailer (pensions?)  
along hair-pin curves without tumbling down a hillside, and then go  
try to build and cross a makeshift bridge without dropping into a deep  
gully. During this race to the finish, you're running out of time and  
trying to avoid disaster. The media in helicopters hover above you,  
following your every move, waiting to move in. Even if you make it,  
the group that finishes last is eliminated. It's like we're watching a  
dream sequence from a movie about a US auto industry exec! Wake up,  
wake up!

To place a bet this size selling the wrong product at the wrong time  
is like pushing all your chips to the middle of the poker table and  
bluffing with a pair of threes. Is there any way any of the auto  
companies win? Do you and other US taxpayers want to add your own  
money to their pile? Never Back Down? Never Surrender? How is this for  
a new slogan: "Hold On!" It's better than "Fold."

The oddest thing about the Ram Challenge reality-ad is the warning  
that accompanies it: "Chrysler, LLC, Dodge and its Agencies insist  
that no one attempt to replicate the activity on this site." No, few  
of us have this kind of budget, even if such "stupid fun" somehow made  
sense for anyone to want to do.

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http://www.boingboing.net/2008/11/17/that-damn-ram-challe.html