Creative > Ad of the Day

Ad of the Day

Porsche "Family Tree"

Brand: Porsche Cars
Agency: Cramer-Krasselt
Review Date: October 20, 2009

A sports car with backseat drivers? It's a tricky concept to sell. But that's the challenge for this spot (via Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago) as it introduces the Porsche Panamera, the brand's first car with seats for four people. The task is to persuade us that this is a true Porsche, even if you can have granny and a kid riding in the backseat. So, the spot (literally) situates the Panamera among several dozen older production and racing models -- all of them certifiably sporty Porsches -- as we see them speeding across an open, desert landscape. And a voiceover speaks of the brand's history, dating back to its founding by a man who couldn't find the car of his dreams. "So he built one." The voiceover extends the "dreams" theme, and implicitly links it to the new Panamera, by telling us that "Since then, every Porsche has fulfilled a dream of one kind or another." Have there really been people who dream about a sports car with a backseat? At any rate, it's a manful effort at expanding the definition of the sports-car category, though the voiceover sounds a bit defensive, at least to my ear, when it closes with the word "uncompromising. "The Porsche "family tree," traced on the ground by the tires of these cars, is a deft visual touch. Meanwhile, the spot can't altogether elude the problem that besets automotive commercials in which we see much earlier generations of the brand: The older cars always look cooler than the new ones. So, instead of looking jazzier than any other four-seater car on the planet, the Panamera is in the position of looking less jazzy than the Porsche siblings shown here. ---Mark Dolliver

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Overall rating:
(1.5 ) Poor

16 Comments
  • 1. Driver comments:
    October 29, 2009

    The car may be good, the ad is mediocre. Been there, done that. Nothing new from a conceptual or executional point of view. Could have been an ad for a new Chevy.


  • 2. sorry comments:
    October 27, 2009

    it's bad.


  • 3. Downunder comments:
    October 27, 2009

    A family car? Who buys a Porshe to accommodate the family?


  • 4. greg comments:
    October 24, 2009

    Really lame


  • 5. ThirtySecondsofHell comments:
    October 24, 2009

    The agency had a tough job here. The Panamera is the second most un-Porsche car in the current lineup. It's a very good car, but it could've been built by anyone. So, the challenge is to do through advertising what couldn't be done through design or engineering, make the car seem Porsche-like. While the idea of associating the Panamera with great Porsches of old is the most obvious course of action, it doesn't work here because the Panamera is so out of place amongst all the other cars.


  • 6. Brian comments:
    October 23, 2009

    Agreed, the "family tree" is a nice visual, but, was there a Panamera in the ad? Hmmmm.


  • 7. Loved it comments:
    October 23, 2009

    in 1970.


  • 8. Atown comments:
    October 23, 2009

    I think most people are missing the point, this isnt about a sports car, its a family car that can handle like a sports car. Thats why it seems like isnt hitting the normal edgy image of porsche because its not aimed at sports car fanatics, its aimed at families. just my 2 cents.


  • 9. The worst comments:
    October 22, 2009

    Uncompromising is what the creative should be for this amazing new sedan launch, but it is anything but compromised.


  • 10. Brad comments:
    October 22, 2009

    As a porsche enthusiast who was a little on the fence about the panamera this spot really helped me see the panamera in a different light. Porsche makes sports cars, the panamera is a sports car. That to me has been affirmed. And I think that was the right messaging that needed to come across. I thought the spot was well done and beautiful to see the entire family. Excited to see how this campaign evolves.


  • 11. Lou comments:
    October 22, 2009

    As a Creative Director, Porsche owner, and car collector, this is boring on all counts. A great opportunity to introduce a new model from one of the world's most exciting names, and this is the best creative they can produce. Put the account in review.


  • 12. p comments:
    October 22, 2009

    the agency seems to have destroyed or atleast covered up the soul of this very cool car company. it has a heritage that others would die for and now it seems to have been american-ised. even the print work sucks. believe in beliefs?


  • 13. auto geek comments:
    October 22, 2009

    A cutting edge car should have advertising that pushes the envelope. This does not. This tells me that Porsche has manufactured a long line of cool cars. I know that. Why should I buy this one?


  • 14. howard comments:
    October 21, 2009

    Not so fresh, this.


  • 15. bud comments:
    October 21, 2009

    The spot does what it can to get the viewer to avoid looking at the car. I'm so distracted by the other certifiably cool cars that I don't even notice the Panamera, which is good since it's really quite homely. If it's a great car, let it stand on its own merits.


  • 16. Great comments:
    October 21, 2009

    This was a great spot. 25 years ago for: Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and a host of other auto makers.


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