There are car markets that see old vehicles renovated over and over instead of being replaced by more modern cars. Brazil was one of them. In 2011, it still sold the Volkswagen Kombi (a T1.5, or a mix of the T1 and T2 Bus) and the Fiat Uno, which were decades old. Nissan thought the March (the Micra with another name) would sell like hotcakes and created fun commercials like this one with Mr. Potato Head to ensure that.
Unfortunately, the advertisement does not have English subtitles, but we can fix that. The green Mr. Potato Head sings: “Eu sou um carro velho, eu sou um carro velho, carro velho…” That means: “I am an old car, I am an old car, old car…” That is when one of the engineers asks the others: “What will we change in this vehicle for next year?” The redheaded guy sitting in a chair says they should change the front of the car and the engineer who asked about that thinks it is a great idea.
They then check the parts available for Mr. Potato Head and replace its mouth with one with teeth. The green machine immediately starts to sing a similar song, just with a crucial word change. “Eu sou um carro novo” means “I am a new car.” The engineer calls the redheaded guy a genius.
That’s when the narrator enters and suggests customers should get a really new car. The vehicle this commercial wanted to sell was the fourth generation of the March/Micra, the K13. Despite Nissan’s excellent creative efforts, it never sold as much as the Japanese carmaker expected.
Customers thought it had poor materials, with hard plastics all over the place. It also did not have much room for luggage: only 265 liters (9.4 cubic feet). Ironically, the Fiat Uno and the Volkswagen Kombi kept on selling in high volume until new legislation killed both of them in 2014 because they could not receive airbags and ABS at a feasible price.
The March had all these things and still did not manage to convince Brazilian customers it was a better option. Curiously, Nissan’s advertisement always made sure to reinforce it was a Japanese car. As obvious as that may sound, Nissan probably noticed it was crucial to warn customers about that. After all, the reliability fame that precedes projects made in Japan can be the element that decides a given purchase.
The version of the commercial we have embedded below was focused on the internet. To keep viewers interested, Nissan put Mr. Potato Head to sing a song inspired by Roberto Leal’s “Bate o Pé.” The famous toy turned into a fictitious car to help Nissan make a point asks those still watching to share the video, like it, retweet it, and publish it on Facebook until the new mouth with teeth drops from his face. Much like what happened with the March in the Brazilian market.
Google News