Flashy SUVs
Writing about web page http://www.chevyapprentice.com/apprentice.php?country=us
It seems that Chevrolet are looking for new ways to promote the Tahoe, their big SUV. One idea they've hit upon is inviting viewers of their web site to create their own advert. This is technically quite brilliant; it's a little timeline editor which lets you choose snippets of footage, add your own captions and choose a soundtrack, all in a Flash applet inside your browser.
But the best bit about it is this: it's abundantly clear that they're not moderating the adverts which their users are creating. Take a look, for example, at this. (If anyone can work out how I can save a local copy of that advert, please tell me how; I'm sure it won't be there forever. ;-)
Update: Thanks to Tom for pointing out this montage hosted by news.com which I guess has more chance of sticking around for a while. Still can't save it, though; curse these parameterised playback widgets!
John Dale
04 Apr 2006 09:33
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Tags: Flash Humour Tech
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7 comments by 1 or more people
[Skip to the latest comment]Nice looking truck that
04 Apr 2006, 09:58
Does it not cache locally if you force it to?
04 Apr 2006, 11:28
Very funny. Thanks John. I know several militant cyclist blogs and forums whose members would have a field day if they knew of this.
04 Apr 2006, 12:10
YOu can see a compilation of some of them at
link
04 Apr 2006, 14:31
And there's an emerging index of some of them in the comments thread at
link
04 Apr 2006, 15:39
Excellent!
06 Apr 2006, 00:20
Interesting blog post from GM on this exercise:
link
"Early on we made the decision that if we were to hold this contest, in which we invite anyone to create an ad, in an open forum, that we would be summarily destroyed in the blogosphere if we censored the ads based on their viewpoint. So, we adopted a position of openness and transparency, and decided that we would welcome the debate. (As an aside, we have been truly disappointed by the number of submissions we had to filter out because of their vulgar content.) I won't bore you with the details, but the overwhelming majority of the 22,000 submissions thus far have been earnest attempts at creating positive advertisements."
and
"So, a few media pundits seem to think this social media program was a failure and others seem to revel in the apparent anarchy. We, on the other hand, welcome the opportunity to clarify the facts regarding fuel economy, vehicles equipped with E85 capability, and consumer choice. In our opinion, this has been one of the most creative and successful promotions we have done.
06 Apr 2006, 16:54
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