Shifting Gears: Top 5 Auto Commercials In 2013

This year is seeing a lot of interesting auto commercials and marketing for cars, trucks and SUVs that get the most use on American roadways.

Here are some of the best new auto commercials that premiered in 2013 as major car companies tried to entice massive consumer audiences towards their brands.

Top 5 Auto Commercials: Kia Credenza

In a stunning spot featuring Kia’s full-size luxury car offering, marketers combined two neat things, David Bowie and bridges, before asking audiences the essential question: what happens to the girl you never noticed in high school?

This ad combines a lot of high-class visuals: bright city lights, awesome infrastructure, and a graceful heel-shod leg appealing from behind the driver’s door. It also includes a clever and comedic connection between the geeky high school girl turned sexy and their new luxury car.

Why is it on the top 5 list? Kia hit the mark with this commercial in introducing a different side of their brand.

Not long ago they were rocking the TV with their Soul hamster commercials appealing to the hip hop generation and now they completely flipped their marketing approach to appeal to the luxury buyers for this new vehicle.

I think Kia knows their audience well and these commercials prove that.

Chevy Silverado “Apocalypse”

In this tongue-in-cheek commercial for the prize-winning Chevrolet Silverado work truck, that Mayan apocalypse did happen after all.

As the cameras roll, and a rugged band of brothers emerges from the scrap heap with their Silverados, the marketers continue to pull out all of those apocalyptic tropes, from Twinkies to raining frogs, while the star characters mourn the absence of their Ford-driving friend. (Ouch! For Ford but cleverly done by Chevrolet.)

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t originally aired in 2013 but close enough. It was perfectly executed for the Superbowl commercial watches who crave conflict and theatrics.

Kia Forte “Hotbot” Female Robot

I know, another Kia commercial (I wonder what that says about whoever is doing their marketing). Once again they hit the nail on the head with their classy yet comedic commercials.

This one shows an unveiling of their new Forte, which obviously appeals to the techies. As a geek goes up to observe the new car he insults it by kicking the tire and the female robot gets angry and gives him a beating.

The commercial brilliantly goes along with their slogan: Respect the Tech. Once again changing who they target, which broadens their customer base.

Toyota Corolla

A 2013 Corolla ad features the most masochistic cat in the universe, who after experiencing a ride in a late model Corolla, decides to get back in the passenger seat by any means possible.

This includes scrapes with big dogs, an impromptu shearing by a street sweeper, and much more, until the final inevitable funeral scene starts to round out the clip.

But since ending it there would be a downer, Toyota proceeds to show us that cats, which apparently really love its products, also have nine lives, as one tenacious paw pops aggressively up from the mounted earth.

No matter what your opinion is of the premise here, this ad has a lot of what makes a good car commercial, including awesome French music and moody, fuzzy animals. Too bad they didn’t get Grumpy Cat to star.

Mustang Personality

Not to be mean to Mustang, but it’s hard to market an over-priced, gas guzzling car. The one thing they do have going for them is personalization and branding.

In this commercial, a Mustang adopts the attitude and appearance of whoever it passes by. A tattooed guy could have awesome decals on his Mustang or black and sleek for the business professional.

So why is it great? Mustang capitalized on their strength in this commercial, which sets them apart from other car brands.

Bonus: 2013 Bentley Mulsanne

The best 2013 car advertisement hands-down? Not sure if you can count this as a commercial as much as a sponsorship. A less prominent ad for a Bentley Mulsanne starring martial arts expert, film star and philanthropist Jackie Chan.

Chan’s fans can point to this as a great example of why this guy is so great, and others will be won over by the memorable monologue that he delivers while riding in the backseat.

Despite the fact that the ad was made to sell luxury cars, what viewers come away with is something that helps restore faith in humanity, international harmony and the world’s future.

“I like peace.” says Chan simply, and characteristically, his quiet-spoken and unique English wins the day and, therefore, is a big win for Bentley.

What About You?
Which commercial you liked most? What other car commercials do you love? Let us know in the comments below.

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About the Author
Alicia Lawrence is a Harrisburg-based writer specializing in communication and health. She works as a content coordinator for WebpageFX and is the founder of MarCom Land. For more about Alicia, visit her website or follow her on Twitter @Alicia_Lw.