|
|
|
|
For Release September 16, 2002 CONTACT:
John Wray Buick
Communications (313)
665-1478 Fax: (313) 665-0350 Online:
Http://Media.Gm.Com/Division/Buick Harley
Earl and Tiger Woods Reintroduce Buick’s “Spirit
Of American Style” In New Advertising Campaign DETROIT – Buick’s established role as the automotive leader in
premium American style is reaffirmed in an all-new advertising campaign.
Debuting “This
new campaign blends style and humor and draws upon inherent strengths of the
Buick brand,” said Randall Tallerico, Buick’s advertising director. “The
creative treatments will draw consumers in and encourage them to take a new look
at Buick, to understand where we’ve been and To
reassert its styling philosophy, Buick creates the persona of the auto
industry’s first design chief, Harley Earl. He returns to take stock in
today’s models, such as the highly successful Buick Rendezvous and new Park
Avenue Ultra, and suggests that great things are to come. Veteran
stage and film actor John Diehl plays Earl in the commercials. Diehl is probably
best known for his appearance on “Miami Vice” as the Hawaiian shirt-clad
Detective Larry Zito. More recently, Diehl played a surgeon in the film “Pearl
Harbor” and appeared as Ben Gilroy on FX’s critically-acclaimed television
series “The Shield.” Famed
director Tony Scott directed the five new television spots. Scott is known for a
number of top films, including “Top Gun,” “Spy Game,” “Enemy of
the State” and “Crimson Tide.” The
new Buick commercials are: 1)
“The Ghost in the Garage” In
this ad that re-introduces Earl, the famed designer walks through a garage –
actually Tiger Woods’ garage – filled with current and classic Buicks
telling a "ghost story." 2)
“Tiger Versus History” Shot
at Florida’s Grand Cypress Golf Course, Earl brings three golfers from the
past to see “the kid” during a practice round. Initially unimpressed, the
golfers – dressed in Plus-4s – disappear after Tiger crushes a drive. As the
commercial concludes, Earl proclaims, “Buick. Always has been, always will be,
the official car of golf.” 3)
“The Haunted Test Track” Filmed
on the California Motor Speedway, Earl explains why Buick put a 240-horsepower
supercharged V-6 engine in the Regal which speeds toward and through him. 4)
“Car of the Future” Set
in a 1950’s Autorama, an event that Earl created, the famed designer shows a
crowd the car of the future – a 2003 Buick Rendezvous. The crowd looks on
quizzically as he explains the vehicle’s innovative capabilities. 5)
“Driving Mr. Earl” In
Buick’s statement on luxury, Earl rides in the back of a new Park Avenue Ultra
with the family dog and points out the finer points of “my most decadent
design yet.” The
new campaign was created by Buick’s national advertising agency,
McCann-Erickson Detroit under the direction of Executive Creative Director Dave
Moore. In addition to the television commercials, print and internet campaigns
launch simultaneously. Buick’s interactive agency, i33, offers an on-line
heritage tour of the company at Buick.com. Earl,
whose father was a coachbuilder from Michigan, was born in Hollywood in 1893.
After building a successful business that offered custom-made bodies for cars
and trucks tailored for Hollywood stars, Earl was lured to Detroit after a
meeting on a Los Angeles golf course and was put in charge of what would become
GM’s Art & Colour Section. His 20-year tenure at GM has numerous design
highlights, including tail fins and the first dream car, the Buick Y-Job. Buick,
which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2003, is buoyed by recent sales
successes. In addition to a significant rise in sales over 2001, Rendezvous is
continuing to sell at a blistering pace. # #
# |
