The Chevrolet anti-aluminum ads have had mixed results
Chevrolet Anti-Aluminum Ads: Are They a Failure?
Chevrolet and Ford have a long, storied rivalry that’s actually generated some nice products. Take, for example, the Mustang vs Camaro fight, which has pushed both companies to make their respective muscle car not only more powerful, but also lighter and all-around better. The ones who benefit are customers, because we all get vastly improved products.
Sometimes, though, the rivalry takes a turn for the weird, which is probably the best way to categorize the latest ads from Chevrolet. They attack the Ford F-150 and its aluminum construction, because we all know that aluminum is about as durable as Coke cans, right?
The Commercial
If you haven’t been watching television or cruising the internet — maybe you’ve been sitting in the middle of a remote wilderness area for the past few weeks — you might’ve missed the notorious Chevy Silverado commercials.
Basically, it shows two construction loaders dropping landscaping blocks from a fair height into the beds of a Silverado and F-150. To make a point, Chevrolet removed the protective liners, showing how the bare metal withstands the impact.
Another example shows a guy “accidentally” knocking a metal toolbox off the edge of the payload, the sharp corner impacting the bed. Both instances are part of the Chevrolet “real people, not actors” series that’s very dramatic and supposed to show us unscripted responses to these tests.
Of course, the Silverado comes out of the two tests with little damage. The F-150, on the other hand, suffers some pretty serious puncture wounds that would be expensive to fix. What you’re supposed to take away is that the Ford isn’t very durable and should be avoided like an aluminum can, while the Chevy with its tough roll-formed steel bed is like a rock.
Ford’s Response
Even though plenty of people have called the scientific nature of Chevy’s tests into question, Ford’s taking the whole thing in stride. It’s basically portraying the new attack ads as yet another desperate attempt for its rival to grab the top spot in the full-size truck segment.
As a funny side note, Honda got in on the action with the all-new 2017 Ridgeline, conducting a similar test. After dumping landscaping blocks into the midsize truck’s bed, the company showed there was no real damage to speak of. That demonstration might have taken some of the wind out of Chevrolet’s sails, because most people wouldn’t consider a Honda pickup truck to be super tough.
The Results
As they say, the real proof is in the pudding. While Chevrolet’s attack ads might look slick, to be successful they must result in truck shoppers turning away from the uber-popular F-150 and going with the Silverado instead.
Automotive News pointed out that for June of 2016, after the ads started running, Chevrolet actually saw the Silverado net the largest chunk of the full-size pickup market for the entire year. That right there could be enough for some to declare that Chevy is running a convincing campaign that’s helping it gain some much-needed traction.
Before you jump to any big conclusions, know that the Ford F-150 was able to post a 40 percent increase in sales for June. For the full F-Series line, market share rose to the highest level for almost the previous year and a half. So it seems that even though the Silverado did well after the anti-aluminum attack ads ran, so did the F-150.
Also worth noting is the fact that even though its market share increased in June, the Silverado saw a 3.7 percent drop in sales for the month. Chevy claims the F-150 itself saw a drop in retail market share. That’s interesting, considering the segment experienced a 9.7 percent gain in June.
When it comes to fleet sales, the F-150 saw a huge surge at a 40 percent increase for June. Chevrolet’s trying to claim that fleet managers don’t want to spend extra on bedliners, making its durability tests incredibly important. The reality seems to indicate that’s not really the case.
Making the success of Chevrolet’s campaign even harder to decipher is the claim from the company that about 10 percent of Silverado buyers in June traded in F-150s. If that’s true, such “conquest” sales figures haven’t been accomplished for about five years, which would definitely be a good sign.
The Irony
You have to wonder if it’s even a good idea for Chevrolet to be criticizing Ford’s use of aluminum in the F-150 while touting the durability of a roll-formed steel bed. That’s because the next generation of the Silverado supposedly is going to use a fair amount of aluminum as well.
The upcoming changes will be necessary because of increasing government fuel economy standards. Not only that, everyone wants a small arsenal of safety equipment and onboard electronics, not to mention wood trim and leather upholstery for their truck. All of that stuff weighs a lot, so automakers have to make cuts somewhere.
What will consumers say once Chevy changes its tune and starts singing the praises of aluminum construction for trucks? Will the brand look like a bunch of hypocrites? It’s a big risk that could backfire in the long run, all for the chance to jump ahead in the short term.
This isn’t the first time Chevrolet’s tried this strategy. About a year ago it released a commercial with people being given the chance to hide in a steel or aluminum cage from a big bear. They of course went with steel, supposedly indicating that it’s the superior material for durability. Plenty of experts pointed out back then that the ad was pure marketing spin, and it didn’t really seem to hurt Ford F-150 sales.
I guess this means that if at first you don’t succeed, you need to keep beating your head against the wall. Someone needs to tell the marketing department at Chevrolet it needs to find some new points to criticize about the F-150, because going after the aluminum thing obviously isn’t working.
