Nissan Says Its Future Ads Will Be No Laughing Matter

Jun. 11, 2016 3:30 PM ET byJared Rosenholtz /10 Comments

Don't be prepared to enjoy Nissan commercials.

Nissan has planned a two year advertising campaign that will be completely different than most automotive commercials. Instead of having celebrities, jingles, clever jokes, or any humor whatsoever, Nissan's new commercials will focus on the car. The new "Take On" campaign started last week and will focus on teaching people that Nissan cars are safe and technologically advanced. Nissan has struggled to relay to consumers what the brand's identity is all about. All we have to say is, BORING.

Nissan

We have absolutely no idea what Nissan is thinking here. In the advertisements, the car is cherry red to help it stand out. Jeremy Tucker, Nissan's vice president of marketing communications and media says that 'the message in every case is: The car performs. The driver is confident." He continues to say that "it's not about feeling good. It's not about pretty people. It's about how Nissan will help you face the driving challenges you face every day." We commend Nissan for trying to stay away from gimmicks like one commercial where Nissan employees convince people that the Altima isactually a race car. How dumb does Nissan think that people are? However, we don't think that Nissan has such a strong portfolio of cars to lean on.

Even if a car is not very exciting, a funny commercial can help sell it. Tucker says that the new Nissan ads will have "no humor" and that 'the ads were getting kind of wacky." He says that Nissan is a serious brand with serious cars. It will, however, still air TV spots in conjunction with ESPN that feature past Heisman trophy winners living in a big house. This ad campaign sounds like a misstep to us. Serious commercials work well for exciting cars like the Jaguar F-Type, but for a Nissan Sentra, having a bit of fun is the only way to make the commercial interesting.