So I’m driving around in my car, listening to the radio, and a guy comes on and says that a local business is “under seige,” and that he’s in communication with an employee who’s hiding under his desk with a cell phone. He’s hiding because another employee is “on a rampage.”
We’ve all heard similar stories from around the country. Disgruntled employees come to work and shoot random people - it’s unfortunately been known to happen. But it is kind of shocking to hear it happening in your own community in real time.
Even more shocking when they reveal that the rampaging employee is “Mark Down,” who is absolutely slashing prices on new Ford cars and trucks.
What sociopath thought this up? “We want people to come buy cars . . . we should grab their attention, and use some humor. Hey, what’s funnier than someone murdering all his coworkers?” Maybe they’ll follow it up with a wacky reference to Columbine!
I’m sorry, this is a lame rant, because I’m just at a loss for words. To top it all off, I’m not sure which dealership made the ad (so it’s not even an effective grotesque and offensive ad). If I hear it again, I think I’ll call them.
AerynSun, can you give some more details? How long was the ruse sustained? What did the guy on the phone sound like - scared, out of breath, stoic?
If there were no clues that the ad was such, then yes, this was in poor taste. How is someone supposed to distinguish this from a real distress call? I think you’d definitely be justified in calling them to complain.
In another medium (TV) this could be effective (I mean, “Mark Down” is pretty funny), as the audience would presumably be able to tell it’s not for real. But as a radio advertisement? Uh, no.
Those are my thoughts exactly. I haven’t heard the commercial but I can’t imagine not knowing right away that this was a joke and / or a commercial. I mean, who panics and says “holy shit I gotta call the radio station!”
To be honest, I structured my OP for dramatic effect. In reality, it was more like, I was driving and concentrating on other things, and half listening, and by the time I started thinking to myself, “What the hell is going on?” it became clear.
But my point is not that it is deceptive, rather that it is really scuzzy to use such a reference as a joke to sell cars.
There would be plenty of ways to use the character of “Mark Down” without making it sound like he was shooting coworkers in the head.
So you’re saying you wouldn’t find an ad parodying intestinal cancer hilarious? I guess some things are serious to the people personally involved in them and maybe shouldn’t be used as fodder for a cheesy radio ad.
The ad company who wrote the bit structured it for dramatic effect. In reality they knew you would be driving and concentrating on other things, and half listening. When you started to think, you thought the ploy was scuzzy—but you heard it. Isn’t that the idea of ad campaigns these days?
Fuck I just woke my girlfriend up. I came back here to read the OP again and I was laughing so hard I woke her up. I have tears pouring down my face. Jesus I rarely ever think anything is this funny. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, I can’t control myself. I’m seriously thinking of changing my username to Mark Down. Fuck I almost just fell over in my chair trying to type that. Mark Down.
I’ve heard that ad, and yeah, that’s a pretty lame rant. There’s nothing in there about “Mark Down” shooting people, it’s more like he’s on a rampage of slashing prices. I can’t see how anyone would think it was real. This is one of a looong series of ads from that dealership, all featuring “Mark Down” and his price-slashing compulsions.
