An old rocket, and a Nissan vehicle, as the automaker observes the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
Nissan
It matters not that Volkswagen, Jeep and Nissan had about as much to do with America’s Apollo 11 moon landing 50 years ago as, say, Mexico, or Oscar Mayer: All three automakers are among the many brands that are tying themselves to the epochal events of July 19 and 20, 1969.
There’s no surprise brands would try to associate themselves with one of the signature achievements of technology and national will in the history of the United States and, indeed, of the world. Yet in the way some are doing so this week, they are testing the bounds of authenticity and relevance.
Take Germany-based Volkswagen. Its “A New Mission” film takes a “giant leap” by equating the moon shot with the social determination the company believes is required today to address climate change, a goal that VW has absorbed as part of its new, purpose-based “Drive Bigger” positioning. The film utilizes footage connected to the Apollo 11 mission by focusing on what the brand called “the cultural similarities and significance of man landing on the moon in 1969 and humankind’s environmental consciousness 50 years later in 2019.”
The spot does feature one of David Bowie’s earliest recorded versions of “Space Oddity,” and that was recorded in 1969. There’s also footage conveying the likelihood that some people around the world huddled at campsites in their VW Bus vans as the lunar drama unfolded some 258,000 miles above them. And in an accompanying print advertisement, VW’s campaign does feature the iconic Bus of the 1960s alongside the company’s ID Buzz concept that represents the fleet of all-electric vehicles that Volkswagen is still developing.
Jim Zabel, Volkswagen of America’s senior vice president of marketing, maintained that Volkswagen had “an authentic connection with those who witnessed this monumental achievement.” In an e-mail to me, he said, “Throughout our history, Volkswagen has always played an impactful role in culture. The moon landing was an incredible moment for humankind, and a unique moment in time for the brand in America.” VW, he continued, “wanted to mark this occasion by reminding America how special our planet is and communicating our goals to have a positive impact moving forward.”
Zabel said that VW tied the moon landing to climate change in part because the achievement 50 years ago “reminds us of what we are collectively capable of. As the world’s largest automaker, we have a responsibility to lead by example and look at this cultural achievement of putting a man on the moon through a new lens.”
As for Nissan: At least the Japan-based automaker mimicked Jeep in not trying to reach too far to make a connection to one of America’s seminal moments. The U.S. arm of Nissan, based in Nashville, put out a news release celebrating the 50th anniversary. But it rather wanly just listed “numerous leaps in space-age technology [that] have made their way into everyday life,” including GPS-based navigation, lithium-ion batteries, stud-less winter tires and satellite radio.
Meanwhile, Jeep this week has been sponsoring Discovery and Science Channel moon-landing programs on TV on behalf of its Wrangler nameplate, including pop-ups with graphics and texts featuring fun facts related to the moon and space, as well as billboards. And on Saturday, the anniversary of when Neil Armstrong became the first person to step on the moon, Jeep planned to run a 12-second video featuring Wrangler on social media. Tag line: “Here’s To 50 Years of Exploring the Unknown.”
But Fiat Chrysler Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois told me that his company rejected the idea of going bigger with tie-ins to the moon landing, such as with a TV commercial. “We did explore some stuff,” he said. “It would have satisfied one of our important criteria for advertising: relevance. But on another criterion — I didn’t find anything super-meaningful for us to say, in other words, nothing that wouldn’t have been forced.
“And it wouldn’t have been original, because obviously everyone is trying to take advantage of the moon landing, including politicians. It wasn’t going to make us stand out.”
