January 24, 2007

Garmin Super Bowl Ad

Update: See a video of the Ad at this post.

Also see My Review of the New Garmin Nuvi 680 and My Review of the Garmin Nuvi 660 which was featured in the Garmin Super Bowl Ad. Finally, want to win a Garmin Nuvi 660? ReadMore about how to win.

Original Post Follows:

Garmin has put out more information on its upcoming Super Bowl ad, citing that it is a humorous take off on a 1960's sci-fi piece. From the description this should be a n over-the-top kind of fun commercial to watch, as it features a Nuvi turning into a super hero and taking out an evil villain. Obviously not the ad they are talking up over at the Garmin Blogs, as I skeptically hypothesized yesterday. More below from Garmin's release today:

The theme of the commercial is "Grab your Garmin, Take on the World" - demonstrating how Garmin personal navigation devices can save the everyday consumer time, money, and hassles. Taken to the extreme, the commercial is a humorous 1960s-style sci-fi piece. The commercial's quirky low-tech production treatment is in playful contrast to Garmin's cutting edge GPS technology and other advertisers' use of complex computer effects.

Update: See their Music Video that they put together with some of the extra footage. You Tube Video after the jump...

The spot begins with an "Average Joe" finding himself lost and unfolding a road map for help. The map continues to unfurl and expand - quickly taking over the car - eventually turning into the dreaded "Maposaurus." Thankfully, another motorist - armed with his Garmin nüvi® - morphs into a superhero who battles and defeats the dreaded map monster. An earnest yet over-the-top heavy metal band adds narration to the epic battle.

"The Super Bowl showcases some of the world's most recognizable brands, and our participation demonstrates Garmin's desire to be counted among them," said Jon Cassat, Garmin's director of marketing communications. "The popularity of GPS navigation is expected to continue growing rapidly in 2007, so we felt it was important to further establish Garmin as the market leader in this important and increasingly ubiquitous consumer technology."

The project was conceived and produced with the help of Minneapolis-based Fallon Worldwide, one of the world's most critically acclaimed, creatively driven branding ad agencies which was also responsible for Garmin's infectious and highly successful "Give a Garmin" 2006 holiday campaign.

"To an engineer, these devices are literally rocket science, but in the hands of the consumer, they're anything but," said Fallon group creative director Brian Tierney. "We purposely went for a look and feel that would make the technology approachable and the brand likeable to the consumer-all while communicating the core idea that in the arena of personal navigation, Garmin is the no-holds-barred champion."

Garmin's Music Video:

Via and Via