When you think of a successful car commercial, it probably involves an off-road SUV taking on rough terrain, or maybe an EV showing off its latest smart features and environmental awareness. You know, commercials that give you a sense of what the car is about, who it’s for, and what it’s capable of.
However, there are some car ads out there that don’t really tell us anything. Whether it’s a video of a whale at an aquarium, an off-key youth orchestra, or a guy yelling about drinking apple juice, these ads leave customers confused about what the message actually is. Instead of feeling inspired to buy a car, they are often left irritated, annoyed, and cringing. Here are some of the worst offenders.
2023 Toyota Sequoia
Toyota really thought they had something with the 2023 Toyota Sequoia “live legendary” campaign. This particular ad was seen as extremely corny, as a family talks about the “legendary Donovan family” who used the Sequoia to save wild horses, drive across the country to walk their dog, and feed half a town with BBQ equipment they were hauling around.
While Toyota saw this as recognizing people’s “epic experiences,” there’s no shortage of complaints across Reddit regarding the campaign’s cornball antics. Driving across the country to walk a dog isn’t a very relatable experience, no matter what car you’re driving. And did horses really need to be shoved into a trailer and driven down a mountain due to some rain? Let’s save this for an after-school special instead.
2022 Infiniti QX60
Musicians have such an intense hatred towards this car ad that the original is no longer available on Infiniti’s YouTube channel. Featuring a woman closing her car window so she won’t have to hear a terrible youth orchestra, many found this ad wildly offensive to child musicians. According to CBC, many youth orchestras fought back, claiming that this advertisement played into a stereotype that children are horrendous at playing instruments and was offensive to families with band kids.
While this may be seen as overly sensitive to some, the ad is horrific either way. Dubbed or not, do we really want to listen to screeching, off-key music every time this advertisement pops up on TV or online? At the time of its release, many people wanted the advertisement to be banned so they wouldn’t have to keep muting their TVs.
2022 Chevy Silverado 1500LTD
This ad makes car enthusiasts burst a blood vessel. A man goes to pick his friends up in his brand-new car after they’ve been hiking. He notices his friends have muddy shoes and dirty clothes and locks the door. The friends continue to obnoxiously pull on the door handles and bang their muddy gloves against the windows until he finally lets them in.
Haters have called the friends “entitled,” seemingly not concerned at all about destroying the guy’s new pickup. Someone even asked why the friends didn’t bother washing themselves off first. Watching a new car get stained is probably not going to be an enjoyable viewing experience for everyone.
2004 Toyota Corolla
“OH BROTHER, THIS GUY STINKS!” we all say in unison. Sucking up to corporate shills who will do just about anything to get a low-level job, this beyond-cheesy advertisement has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. It features a man standing outside an office every morning, handing out coffee. Some guy asks why he keeps doing this day after day, and he replies that he has always wanted to work at the company after his dad gave him a motivational business book by the very man asking why he’s there, which he read while in the service.
His persistence pays off, and the big CEO boss man notices his Corolla, helping the two bond. I personally found this advertisement especially repulsive due to the ham-fisted and cringy dialogue. One hater on Reddit wrote: “It feels like this ad has been written by an alien intern who hasn’t figured out how human interactions are supposed to work.”
2013 Saab BioPower
You have to wait about 30+ seconds to finally see a car in this advertisement. The first half of the ad is about a whale in captivity that wants to be released to the wild, a la Blackfish. That premise isn’t horrible, per se, but what does it have to do with Saab? Apparently, the tag “the power of nature wants to be free” has to do with the brand’s BioPower line.
For me, the screechy “Release Me” song is enough to drive me away. Others have expressed a feeling of pretentiousness oozing from the minute-long saga. Watching a dramatic visual of a whale only for a station wagon to drive out of a tunnel is not winning over every driver.
1998 Toyota Corolla
Called “Everyday Smoothie,” most people know of this commercial as “Apple Juice.” It features a guy going to a smoothie shop and getting apple juice added to his drink. This, apparently, gives him a “spring in his step” that has him declaring he has apple juice all over town. Everyone keeps repeating “apple juice” over and over for about one minute.
You finally see a Corolla at the 40-second mark, after most people have probably already changed the channel. It’s supposed to be about the car’s “subtle changes” making a big difference, but viewers mostly got angry when they had to sit through this ad full of screaming.
2012 Fiat 500
Unless you’re a Jennifer Lopez fan, it’s unclear who this ad is for or what it’s trying to say about the Fiat 500. In the commercial, people keep running after the Fiat, even throwing themselves on top of it. Meanwhile, JLo is singing some corny song, probably about some failed relationship… and yep, that’s about it.
There are worse ads out there, but this one felt awkward and pointless to the car community. What did we learn about the Fiat? I guess that it’s strong enough to hold JLo as she dances on top of it with fans.
2015 Lincoln MKZ
“I’ve been driving a Lincoln since long before anyone paid me to drive one. I didn’t do it to be cool. I didn’t do it to make a statement. I just liked it.” Don’t worry, McConaughey, nobody in the world thought you were driving this car to be cool. Trust me.
For some reason, this entire series doesn’t really talk about the car at all. It just shows McConaughey talking slowly and staring into space, saying quasi-deep things to himself. There are so many moments where he’s just staring blankly at the camera for an uncomfortable amount of time. Saturday Night Live even felt it was worth parodying this strange campaign.
2016 Chevrolet Malibu
Chevy had a campaign called “real people, not actors” that never failed to make people angry. The advertisements showed “real people” walking around a random vehicle with all the branding removed. They’d say over-the-top statements like “it’s some sort of luxury import,” “thing is sweet,” and “grrrrr.”
The thing is, they’re clearly not random people, and if they are, they were paid to say very, very positive things. Also, it’s a commercial. We know commercials are fake. There’s no reason to try and create a “real” commercial.
2023 Subaru Solterra
I’m beginning to notice a pattern here — don’t include anything cute in your car ad. No horses, no child musicians, and now? No dogs. Subaru has long had a campaign where they’ve featured golden retrievers driving their cars, and most people like it, but there’s definitely been a few vocal haters, too.
What is it trying to portray? What do we learn about the car? For me, I call it pandering. Any advertisement where we are supposed to just think something is cute will not be a hit with me. Just because there’s a puppy doesn’t mean I will buy your car. Nice try.
2024 Jaguar Ad
Talk about blowing your entire branding to smithereens! Last year, Jaguar (or should that be jaGUar?) launched an ad they thought would be bold, brave, and inclusive, as they’re moving away from traditional automotive stereotypes. In it, we see people of different ages, genders, and races standing in a pink desert, painting, and holding sledgehammers. There are also phrases like “live vivid,” “delete ordinary,” and “copy nothing.” They didn’t show any cars, however.
Jaguar has always been a brand associated with money, class, and distinguished gentlemen and ladies, but it just burned that to the ground. People have criticized the ad for being out of touch with its customer base, saying it focuses too much on social commentary rather than the product itself.
