Humorous Chrysler Ads Have Serious Message on German Engineering

[LiberalHeart]

DETROIT (AP) -- Those Ask Dr. Z ads are not only funny, but carry a serious message on German engineering in all Chrysler vehicles.

The company was reluctant to tout its German ties when Daimler-Benz and Chrysler merged in 1998. A spokesman says German engineering was promoted in the press but DaimlerChrysler didn't advertise it.

More:
http://wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5201027

[LisaM]

1. I think those ads are terrible

They aren't funny and more to the point, a lot of people don't even know about Daimler having acquired Chrysler (oh, and by the way - LYING about it and what they were going to do to the company). I don't like the Hemi ads either, but those Dr. Z ads are not very effective. My boyfriend, a transplant who grew up in Michigan, didn't even know that Daimler was connected to Mercedes Benz.

[BOSSHOG]

2. I do like the Dr Z commercials but

is there really a Dr Z? He seems very smooth. Is he the Geico Gecco or a real, live engineer heading up Daimler-Chrysler?

I had trouble with the link and could not download it, but the commercials are very well done.

[LiberalHeart]

3. Link works for me

I love the commercials, but they wouldn't get me to buy their cars. I just like the entertainment value. But I, too, have wondered if the guy is real. It wouldn't ruin them for me if he isn't; I just wanna know.

[BOSSHOG]

5. I've heard a radio commercial

where a guy ask the professor "does that thing have a hemi?" and the professor rambles on and on about the cars, and the questioner responds, "I was asking about the mustache."

I've never purchased a Chrysler product but I do like the commercials, I don't drink Miller beer but I like a lot of their commercials. I don't buy Geico Insurance but the Gecco is my favorite. "Theatrics might be considered a bit cheesy mate."

[Book Lover]

4. He's a real person (nm)

[Kellanved]

15. He's the CEO

And yes, that's really him, despite looking like the guy from arrested development.

[Book Lover]

6. Here's a more developed story

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060725/OPINION03/607250346/1148/AUTO01

Before his image was wrapped on his company's 15-story headquarters building, televised and caricatured on a new Web site, Dr. Dieter Zetsche was the Stuttgart-based auto executive who presided over DaimlerChrysler.

Famous in Auburn Hills though he was, Zetsche was a suit, not a symbol, a corporate power lacking presence in Ames, Iowa, or Santa Monica, Calif.

But since July 1, when he was reinvented and unveiled as "Dr. Z," the German impresario of DaimlerChrysler's new multimedia advertising campaign, he has been sending a new message to the hinterlands: In essence, buy American -- it's kind of German.

[fordnut]

7. Ad wouldn`t make me buy a Chrysler,but

at least the new cars are built right V8 power and rear will drive,if Ford drops rear drive I would switch to Chrysler

[Kolesar]

8. Who really needs a V8 engine?

Towing a yacht?

[NJCher]

9. I think it might make me buy their car

If I could afford a new car, which I of course considering bushenomics cannot. But IF I could, I think I would consider their car because I respect German engineering. The ads remind me of that aspect of their cars. We've almost always had a German car over the past 30 years.




Cher

[Jack from Charlotte]

12. The problem is..... there isn't a decent German car on the market....

None of them work. Consumer reports doesn't even recommend Benz anymore their reliability is so bad. Friends I know with Benz' are exasperated with the constant break downs. Windows don't work. Radio needs replacing. Can't even pass emission tests. My brother got rid of his '98 BMW 5-body a couple of years ago which he bought new. (And paid about $42,000 for) And with under 80,000 miles the pos was shot. My nephew's 3-body Bimmer has had more break downs than can be imagined and both of them take very good care of their cars.

All German cars are garbage. I've owned 2 Porches myself and would probably never again.

The Chrysler ads make me laugh.

[SammyBlue]

10. The last time we hyped German Engineering anything

6 million Jews were killed and World War 2 happened.

Last thing anyone wants to hear is German and Engineering in the same sentence.

:sarcasm:

[semillama]

13. You forgot the 'sarcasm' tag

I mean, you WERE being sarcastic, right?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Did Daimler-Chrysler pay for that article?

They lost me at "Those Ask Dr. Z ads are not only funny..."

[LiberalHeart]

14. It's from AP; not paid for.