What does the 2014 Cadillac CTS — aka the 2014 Motor Trend Car of the Year — have in common with the Wright Brothers, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard, Disney, Mattel, and The Ramones? They all came out of an American garage. The point is, you never know what kind of greatness can come out of an American garage:
The GM Authority Take
While some insist that GM’s marketing department needs a makeover, this ad is proof positive that it most certainly does not. That said, we would have added Apple to the list of companies that started in a garage, as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak did just that, while the tech giant’s transitionary period in the early 2000s is similar to what GM is undergoing right now.
However, it’s worth noting that those start-up garages are far from the kind of garage that the ATS and CTS came out of. The latter is usually underfunded, not at all established, and working to bring some kind of an innovation to market, while the former, on the other hand, is well-established (although undergoing a transformation) and has funds-a-plenty.
But that doesn’t change the fact that we really enjoy the ad’s emphasis and seemingly unabashed delight with being American. Go Cadillac!
Comments
I love this spot.
Any commercial with the Ramones is great. I would have used the Blitzkriegs Bop in a nod to the German competitors.
This is false advertising. The Ramones did not start in a garage. They lived in apartments in Queens and had no garages… they started by playing in rehearsal spaces. There are many bands that DID start in garages that could have been used as an example. Shame on you, GM.
Maybe the word “garage” should be taken less literally. The point is, they all had humble beginnings.
Get a life!
As long as the right people get the royalty check I do not think anyone is going to complain.
Their songs work and get into your head even if you are not a fan. This is good advertising music.
People are still singing Like a Rock too.
The real point is that these cars should make their way to every garage in this country! But people are to lazy to get off their ass and go test drive one!
They sit and listen to people tell them what to buy via mags or TV shows and ads like this! Instead of making choices on their own they live their lives being told what to buy so they can have a excuse for buying what they bought!
Living in the past asking what a car maker did years ago is useless and a waste of time. Anybody can separate cars and trucks in a certain segment if you do your homework! I guess that’s the problem these days people want other people to do the work for them so we get dumb ass people who say this company use to do this and use to make this instead of evaluating the car or truck for what it really is right now not comparing it to something that happened 20 years ago! F/R!
I was thinking they left Apple out of the ad because GM cars use Windows technology???
Are you sure you’re not thinking of Ford? GM does not employ “Windows technology”, or any from Microsoft — for that matter, in its vehicles.
Or, they only have 30 seconds with which to promote the car.
I’m sure there are far more garage start-ups that are listed in the ad.
Also, if you prove this “Windows technology” stuff that GM allegedly uses, it would make things interesting for your case.
Why do people complain about the informative systems so much?
If you learn how to use them they work great!
Key word learn!
Maybe it was Ford that I was thinking of with Windows. All the same, as the author states, Apple (one of the most recognizable and the most valuable company in the world) would have been a good addition.
Agreed, Apple should have been included, especially given how it went through a near-death experience two decades ago and then became a leader in the consumer technology space… which is similar to what GM went through in 2009, and the transformation it is currently undergoing.
Apple may have not wanted to opt in here.
Depending on who they are working with they may not have wanted to be tied to anyone automaker in advertising. GM would have had to get their permission to use them and they may just not have gotten it.
Granted it would have been free publicity but if they are working with 4 other automakers right now they maybe did not want to be in a commercial right now.
Or Apple wanted too much money to use their name. You should see how hard it is to address auto parts on the web and not get into trouble using a MFG name to where you have to pay them.
Love the Ramones–however, they started in Joey’s mother’s Art Gallery basement.
What happened to the HP Garage — it is not in the commercial running during the Olympics
Blah Blah Blah….. you forgot Apple! Typical GM. Leave out the most important stuff!
Actually, GM usually does very well on the “important stuff”. They can’t mention every single American firm with garage beginnings in a 30-second spot.