[20] Chevy Runs Deep Might Have Finally Got The Legs It Was Promised

After severing ties with the Publicis Groupe in early May, General Motors and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners teamed up and produced the campaign behind the tagline "Chevy Runs Deep." It quickly underwent a barrage of criticism, a lot of which can be seen via Ad Age's article "Criticism of New Chevy Theme Line Runs Deep."

In that same article Jeff Goodby responds by saying:

"It's not fair to judge a tagline out of context. I use the example of 'Got Milk?' A lot of people didn't like it, including one of my partners, until they saw it within the context of a campaign. I think [Chevy Runs Deep] is a tagline that will have legs."

I have to admit that I agreed with the skeptics of the early spots of the Runs Deep campaign. I wasn't too impressed and didn't associate the Chevys of today with the muscular nostalgia of yesteryear. This changed when I saw the latest ad that involved the reuniting of a man with his '65 Impala, a process that took 5 years. I think the campaign finally found the legs that Goodby promised it.

In the 60-second tv spot, the story is quickly relived and the audience witness the union of a man and his former beloved Chevy Impala. The viewer gets to see a very authentic, emotional reaction from the man himself, and the family that tracked down the car and purchased it for him. The guy almost stopped breathing; his speech muffled with disbelief. I believe it summed up every feeling the new theme meant to invoke. When done right, nothing is more powerful than a true testimonial. This spot was done right.

The longer version delves a bit deeper into the background of the search and the story behind the love for the car.

This changed my feelings about the ad and I know I am not the only one. Check out what others had to say about it on the powerful platform of Twitter (all within the last few hours).