More War Branding: Chevy Brings Heros Home

No, this Chevy ad doesn’t have the buzz factor of the subtle Bud “Gay’s in the military” tribute, it just panders straight out. It’s one thing for me to rant, of course, but it’s the soldiers and vets in this Military.com thread that are largely taking exception. Writes greywolfghost (quoted by Bergy46):

I am absolutely opposed to this type of advertising and have emailed the company to express my displeasure. Veterans should not be used by any company to help improve sales. I am absolutely beside myself about this and will not budge.

Certainly, there is the audacity of tagline…

“Bringing Heros Home for Generations. Just Another Reason … Chevy Runs Deep”

…but really, who actually know where the Pentagon ends and Chevy begins?

You’ve got to appreciate the near-full-screen “flag-flation” near the opening which is so innocuous as to be almost subliminal.

Hat tip, too, to the demographic play using Viet vet Grandpa (and is Grandma wearing a service-related pin?) as a bookend to the vet Dad.

Then, look: the neighbor across the street (just beyond the duffle bag) is flying Old Glory, too.

More particularly, I’m wondering about the modest front yard of what looks like a middle or lower-middle class California tract house. Maybe, considering the brutal California recession, Mom and the kids had to move in with Grandma and Grandpa while Dad was away?

Of course, nothing like using little Mikey to tug at the heartstrings.

(Or, is it John-John? as a YouTube commenter, @doubanjiang, picks up).

But then, the weakest note has to do with how the producers missed the obvious emotional, as well as military logic of how a soldier — still another one, of course, in the requisite cammo — would have responded to the gesture from his kid. Writes onovakind67, also in the YouTube thread:

A Marine like me would have dropped the duffel bag and gave him my best one.

But then, how much reality do you really need when it comes to brand ID siphoned from the endless war?

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