Hyundai's "Big Duh" Campaign?

[Sal Collaziano]

Is anyone else here confused by where Hyundai is going with this? Aren't they trying to be taken more seriously these days? You'd never see Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti or Acura with a "Big Duh" campaign. It's childish. How can they be taken seriously when everywhere you look, you see a Hyundai sign or commercial with "Duh" on it? It just seems backwards to me. Maybe I'm wrong. I mean, they DO have me thinking and talking about it. And they say any press (good or bad) is "positive". But it just seems like they're making themselves look silly... Couldn't they have thought of something more classy or prestigious than "Big Duh"? Maybe "Isn't It Obvious"?

[vsd]

They're using one syllable words, Americans like their words to be short and to the point.

[chickenkicker]

That's what I was thinking. If they have been trying so hard to look like a serious competitor why do an add campaign like this that makes them look like a joke. I dunno who does their advertising but they are just making them look worse with crap like this. The same goes for Kia, they have some really bad adds as well.

[genjy]

I like Kia's ads because they are whimsical and subtly funny.

Hyundai's duh ads just suck ass.

[Bravada]

I am afraid Hyundai's marketing sucks on all fronts, Europe's i30 ad with the dogs is probably just as lame. It also seems their "Vormarsch" got stopped - they can't move the metal they are churning out...

[EldoFan]

If they expect their Genesis sedan/coupe to be taken seriously........god help em if they continue with the ****ty (dare I say arrogant?) advertising......

[HoeyHimself]

its Hyundai...I cant believe they didnt try going with "Like A Rock"

[ZeroDrag]

Originally Posted by HoeyHimself

its Hyundai...I cant believe they didnt try going with "Like A Rock"

that's funny, but in Hyundai spirit, they'd probably change it to "Like a Hawk" or "like a joke"

[Ttple]

It's fine because it's memorable. Who remembers Nissan or Mitsubishi's ads?

The Christmas one made me laugh.

I think the ad campaign says let everyone else spend all their money on cars that aren't any better than ours.

[joeaeguy21]

I find the ads to be quite offensive. Buy our cars dumb americans DUH! And the Christmas ones are over the top. Changeing the lyrics to include the word DUH.

They know most people like foriegn cars and now they mook thier customers with a smug campain.

I guess its ok though because its an asian manufacturer, the media would tear GM or any other American company to shreds if they launched such a campaign

[GrandPrix08]

Well, DUH means MORE in Korean, so I guess they kinda used it in a way. In Korean, 'Hana Duh' means One More(Hana means one, Duh means more), whereas, 'Adding' is spoken as 'Duh-Hah-Gi' in Korean, which is also the name they call to describe the plus sign in math. ( + ) .

But, yeah, I agree. They should have gone with a better, more workable, and easier to understand, not to mention, sensible ad than their current ones that NON-Korean people can understand IF they used it for the above reason. They are not selling the cars to Korean people only if the reason was that. Doesn't make sense. Not a fan of neither Hyundai nor Kia though I'm Korean, but they should have done a better job to fit the North American market. If their products are trash like it is now, at least, make their ads LESS Trashy.

[EldoFan]

Originally Posted by Ttple

It's fine because it's memorable. Who remembers Nissan or Mitsubishi's ads?

The Christmas one made me laugh.

I think the ad campaign says let everyone else spend all their money on cars that aren't any better than ours.

Which is also funny, because there are alot of cars out there that are better.....

[Sal Collaziano]

That's the commercial that had me think about posting this topic. The Christmas "duh" commercial.. It's really lame.. It's like they're trying to attract kids working at their first job for customers. Sounds like a really silly business plan to me.. Hyundai has a lot of potential, but their marketing team is really messing things up..

Originally Posted by joeaeguy21

I find the ads to be quite offensive. Buy our cars dumb americans DUH! And the Christmas ones are over the top. Changeing the lyrics to include the word DUH.

They know most people like foriegn cars and now they mook thier customers with a smug campain.

I guess its ok though because its an asian manufacturer, the media would tear GM or any other American company to shreds if they launched such a campaign

[Sal Collaziano]

Originally Posted by GrandPrix08

If their products are trash like it is now, at least, make their ads LESS Trashy.

For a Korean, I'm surprised to hear you say that. Hyundai products are NOT trash. If they were, Toyota wouldn't be so worried about them. Same goes for everyone else - it's just Toyota that'll probably feel the most impact..

[GrandPrix08]

I was just being sarcastic, since it's a fact that no-one consider Hyundai nor Kia as a mainstream. YET, and it will take them a Looong time to turn that perception around. The Genesis type of car is a no go, well, not yet. They should stick with the Korean market first, and it's not too late to bring them into US AFTER they get their reputation repaired. So long as the American people still say the lines like 'It's still a Hyundai', or anything like 'It's a nice car' but immediately follows it with the lines like 'For a Hyundai/Kia that is', it won't be a success. I called them as trashy since I still think they cannot compete with the big boys in terms of qualities especially when it comes to the long run. Sure they've come a long way, but it's not enough to really feel confident to think that their top of the line model will also sell in the tough market like US where most people still chews on Hyundai/Kias. Well, not so much as before, but it still has a way to go to be respected as other Japanese brands are thought as.

I don't think Toyota or Hondas are really worried about them, I don't see any articles that justifies that they are worried anywhere, well, as far I as I know, since they know that their loyal fans will still go to their showrooms no matter how daring the Koreans make their new cars(which are ALL derivative) for a while, unless they(Koreans) can really do their homework and become the mainstream in a day or two(which is next to imposible), since I don't think the Genesis will shift that many Toyota or other Japanese loyal fans to the Hyundai showrooms anytime soon. They could be some, but there won't be many. That's why the reputation is so important. It is 10 times harder to restore the reputation that is wrecked. It is easy to lose a good image, but it is simply not that easy to gain it back once it's lost. Let me ask you, how many of you think of the cars like Hyundai Azera, or Kia Amanti as a 'LUXURY' car, or even a 'NEAR LUXURY' Car. It's just not good enough to be called either, which is a fact. They maybe considerred higher line luxury cars in the home market Korea, but not in North America or Europe as well.

As Korean, I do wish them a good luck, but to me, the odds are not that good for them, at least right now. It's just too early to send the Genesis into US. They should have waited about 2 or 3 years more and really DEVELOP their OWN style and design, rather than haphazardly copy the other cars here and there in a rush and release it and label it as their new 'LUXURY' car.

That's how I see it.