Hummer Ads: Unintentional Irony?

The current print ad series for Hummer feature the tagline "like nothing else" and bewitching images of exotic wildlife in its natural habitat.

Presumably the ads are meant to compare the Hummer to these rare and beautiful creatures. However, with the Hummer taking a lot of heat from environmentalists over its notoriously low gas mileage, these images serve as a reminder that owning one of these vehicles is damaging to the environment and to the survival of the very creatures to which Hummer likens itself in these ads. Perhaps the Leo Burnett agency of Mumbai is saying "oops" right now…. on the other hand, maybe the message was intentional—the ads are clearly not meant to appeal to the environmentalist consumer anyway!

Client: Hummer

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Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
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brandonbarr's picture

Not to mention the irony of using the "Like Nothing Else" tagline in ads that are asking you to make the leap that Hummer is like something else. Namely, mutant animals.

TDD's picture

There is a hybrid Hummer. Maybe that is what the ads are alluding to.

TDD's picture

On second look, I don't think there is a production hybrid Hummer.

With sales of the Hummer on the decline, maybe the intention of the ads is to get back to what helped make the Hummer popular: the Hummer's uniqueness. I think the ad imagery could be misplaced as most Hummers (and most other "off-road" vehicles) never leave the pavement; however, I think the ads might be going for that 'a different kind of animal' line with the Hummer.

sakib's picture

This is the exact same idea as a Nissan 4x4 campaign done by TBWA/Paris where undiscovered animals were discovered. Here are the exampleshttp://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/nissan_explore_onehttp://adsofthewo...