by Wallace Wyss –
When I was a Detroit ad copywriter back in the Sixties one account I toiled on was the Chevrolet account. Only occasionally could I “waste space” talking about the great Chevys of the past, like the time I wrote a Corvette brochure which featured great Corvettes of the past.
Recently I saw a great Chevrolet commercial, a homage to one particular car that an old man loved, and stopped driving years before. The commercial is called Holiday Ride and you can see it below.
The commercial opens with a rural scene with a little acoustic guitar playin’ off camera. We see a man on an old farm, old wooden house, the whole depression-era look, walking out to place a wreath on the doors of a barn, a Chevy Silverado 2500HD in the background. When the man opens the barn doors, we see a ’66 Impala convertible, unrestored and neglected, flat tires, cobwebs, the whole nine yards. As the man sits in the Chevy Impala, he lifts up a photo of a young woman, presumably his wife. He is overcome with tears.
Some time later, we see the man’s daughter arrive in her Chevy Blazer crossover, seeing her father has had another trip down memory lane. She heads into town, recruits some locals and there’s a furious spate of midnight oil work restoring the car.
The video ends with a reveal as dad opens the garage and there’s the same ragtop, only this time lookin’ good as new. When he sits in it, he finds the same photo of (presumably) mom. He gestures to his daughter and they leave the farm for a ride as he thanks her.
I think it was meant as an uplifting holiday message, which it does, but it accomplishes a lot for the love of the brand, saying in effect “We build cars that change people’s lives. In short, we are a brand that’s worth returning to.”
I wonder how a company like Tesla could have a commercial like that when they’ve only been around a dozen years or so? There’s hardly a past to go back to.
In the letter following its presentation on You Tube one viewer wrote:
The Truth About Facts.
This is truly one of the best car ads of all time and the best part is it’s not an ad for any particular car, or really even Chevy, it’s about the connection to cars as more than just rolling transportation, the memories and emotions that come from a classic car that speaks to all car lovers regardless of brand. Chevy has had some really bad ads in the past few years but wow this one just knocked it out of the park. I think I could count on one hand the amount of car commercials that would make me cry but this one did.
I am of similar mind. I liked it and I think I’d rather have that blue ’66 than any recent Impala…
Chevrolet writes,
Based on actual events, we teamed up with Academy Award winners Tom Hooper (director), Claudio Miranda (director of photography) and Rachel Portman (composer) to tell the story of love, redemption and restoration. Because the greatest gift anyone can ever give is joy. Happy Holidays.
Watch it and tell us what’cha think…
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is the author of 18 auto history books and a regular commentator on Autotalk broadcast weekly by KUCR-FM Riverside, California.
I’ve seen this commercial earlier this week on MSNBC. It’s the classiest & most moving commercial i’ve seen in years. There are so many stupid commercials from insurance companies that truly aren’t funny at all and don’t make sense. then there’s the woman’s deodorizer for so called “stinky” parts. wow, what have we come to? Are we at the bottom of the barrel? Surely other auto companies, such as Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi,Lexus, etc, can come up with similar intelligent & touching commercials that can compare with the Chevrolet “Holiday Ride” ad. Come on guys, you can do it.
Kudo’s to Chevrolet respecting and paying homage to the past… how refreshing, yeah I was pretty misty eyed at the end too… What a satisfying trip that little piece of video was… nice to see these days that our pasts should not be thrown away… there has been much good, and still is in the currently crazy world in which we are blessed to live in.
Very touching and refreshing. Thanks for sharing.
I remember a similar kid of Ford when a service member came home from Afghanistan and his dad had a Mustang in the garage. It went through several events just like this one did!