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USAA: “Just kidding”… u-turns back to Fox.

May 31, 2017

Here’s the letter they sent to veterans who threatened to move their insurance business.

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For those who were busy celebrating Memorial Day, here’s the story in a nutshell:

Fox ran a story about a DNC staffer who was victim of an unsolved murder … alleging that he (not the Russians) leaked the DNC memos to WikiLeaks
Media Matters – a very leftist news tracking service – called for a boycott of FoxNews (for trying to derail the Trump-Russia narrative) … especially the Sean Hannity Show.
Several advertisers joined together in the boycott, including Ring.com (home security), Casper.com (matresses) … and USAA (insurance for military families)
Many USAA customers – who like Fox’s pro-military opining –complained that USAA’s action was strictly political.
USAA said that its policy is not to advertise on opinion shows – but it was proven that they advertise extensively on MSNBC
USAA announced that it was pulling ads from MSNBC (to prove that its actions weren’t political
Media Matters and other left-leaning groups started to whine
So, USAA closed the circle by announcing that it will advertise on both Fox and MSNBC “until it concludes a review of its advertising policies”

Here’s a HomaFiles exclusive: the letter that USAA sent to its veteran-customers who threatened a retaliatory boycott on USAA…

(more…)

Posted in Advertising, Boycotts, FOX News, USAA | Leave a Comment »

Maybe, the best commercial ever … n’est-ce pas?

March 11, 2014

Have you seen the new Cadillac commercial?

At several levels, I think it’s a great ad.

At a broad level, it’s creating an incredible level of buzz.

As AdAge puts it:

Fans on the political right see . . . an unapologetic ode to American values.

Critics on the political left see it as Ugly American chest thumping at its worst.

What’s got folks so stirred up?

Here’s the ad’s punch line:

“We’re crazy, driven, hard-working believers. . . . . You work hard. You create your own luck.

And you’ve gotta believe anything is possible.

As for all the stuff?

That’s the upside of only taking two weeks off in August, n’est ce pas?”

Crass ugly American materialism … or the American Dream?

Watch the commercial and draw your own conclusion.

One of my favorite reactions was from a “Manhattan brand consultant” who quipped:

The spot is well-done but philosophically odious.

The surprising thing strategically is that they would choose to play to their base instead of trying to expand it.

Say, what?

First, what’s odious about reaping some benefits from hard work ?

Sure, it’s ironic that the commercial is coming from Government Motors … but should the company be touting the progressive mantra “liberation from work” ?

I don’t think so.

Re: “playing to the base” …

I thought Cadillac’s base was NFL-NBA players and urban-based chemical distributors.

Who else rolls in Sclades ?

Note: I probably shouldn’t generalize from personal experience, but an NFL player lives a mile or two from our house. During the season, there are always 12 or more black Escalades parked in his circular drive. Place looks like a Caddy showroom.

They are trying to “expand the base”.

The Caddy ad caught my attention ….

…. just like C.C. Catch did in the 80s with her hit “In the Backside of Your Cadillac”