by. Kristiana Lockman
Cadillac’s new ‘poolside’ ad is hard to swallow. It’s the onein which an assertive, cocksure master of the house surveys his domainandreminds us why Americans are sogreat. I’m pretty sure this is one of those ads that will reflect the worst of America’sculturewhen we look back on it in 50 years, and not justto the liberal idealist.
Regardless of whether the ad makes you feel proud or ugly, froma marketing perspective, I think they missed a terrific cross-promotionalopportunity.To truly celebrateourculture, they should have leveraged another uniquely American campaign: Viagra.
Consider this:
First, American culture is characterized by traits likedominance, authority, power, and success. Geert Hofstede, the Dutchpsychologist,professor, and former IBMer bestknown for his studies of national culture,describes collective US society as having aunique combination of highmasculine energy and one of the most individualisticdrives in the world. (Checkout this tool forcomparing the attributes of different countries at TheHofstede Centre website. AndtheCadillac brand, while not always relevant, exemplifies power andsuccess.
