McKinney launched a new campaign for CarMax starring Andy Daly of Comedy Central’s Review* titled “Drive What’s Possible.”
The campaign focuses on the low-stress process of auto buying and selling that sets CarMax apart. In “Tiger,” Daly carves a large wooden tiger (because “a real one would maul me”) named Dr. Whiskers. The wooden sculpture is intended to show that “CarMax associates will not pounce like tigers…because people don’t like that.”
In “Seven Stages,” Daly outlines the “seven stages of decisioining” while promoting CarMax’s seven day proposal period for considering their offer on your used car: Consideration, Questioning, Deciding, Queso, Nap, Sudoku and Tambourine Practice. “Leather Crafting” sees Daly promoting the chain’s 5 day money-back guarantee on all its cars, as well as the merits of leather. While not likely to leave viewers in hysterics, there’s something to be said for Daly’s dry humor and how the spots relate it to actual CarMax selling points and a larger brand philosophy.
“We wanted to help put consumers at ease and here’s this guy, this character that Andy plays, and it felt like a good fit because he can be really funny and disarming but he’s also very earnest,” CarMax CEO Jim Lyski told Adweek. “The brand is never the punchline; it’s kind of that self-deprecation that he helps provide and so the humor is a bit disarming but his earnestness helps reinforce the seriousness of this decision for consumers.”
“For three days, we worked on site at the Oxnard, California, CarMax with a team of hundreds, including McKinney creatives and producers, shooting a number of spots,” added director Shawn Levy. “And they have a tone that I think, because they show Andy being Andy, is going to really land with audiences.”
*Editor’s note: Review is the best sitcom on TV right now. Just throwing that out there.