MINI Ads in South Africa

Gabe Apr 10th, 2008 Link

No offense to anyone involved but those are now officially the worst MINI related ads I’ve ever seen. Wow.

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C4 Apr 11th, 2008 Link

And guess who made them…?

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Gabe Apr 11th, 2008 Link

From my understanding it’s a local SA shop.

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Big Jim Apr 11th, 2008 Link

I agree, these adds really suck. Why don’t they come up with something good and get away from the “what doesn’t belong” theme.

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AN Apr 11th, 2008 Link

They’ve used the One of These Things ads done by BSSP as the model. Not sure why they were allowed to do market-specific work. Someone in Munich will be annoyed.

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gokartride Apr 11th, 2008 Link

It’s common for ads designed specifically for other cultures/markets to look odd to our eyes. I’d give them the benefit of the doubt.

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Nathaniel Salzman Apr 11th, 2008 Link

No offense to anyone involved but those are now officially the worst MINI related ads I’ve ever seen. Wow.

Yeah, I think that could be made official. If it weren’t for the “milkshake” title, I wouldn’t have known what that first one was supposed to be at the end. Is it a sunday? A glass of pudding? A goblet of crap?

And talk about features. I’ve never seen a car with so many doors! I must have it now!

It’s sad ’cause the Clubman is thoroughly awesome and deserves better than a psychedelic game of 3D “memory.”

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mike Apr 11th, 2008 Link

I wonder if any MF readers from SA can chime in? This is definitely not appealing to me but does that concept resonate with the intended target?

I’m not completely behind the “One of these things is not like the other” concept even for the US as really none of the models are like each other. But then again, I’ve been accused of being too literal.

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C4 Apr 11th, 2008 Link

Wasn’t BSSP handling all Clubman related marketing campaigns, both inside and outside the US of A?

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Jon Apr 11th, 2008 Link

As bad as the US Clubman adds ick.

Ok Mini I get it already, the Clubman is different than the coupe ;)

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AN Apr 11th, 2008 Link

Yes, BSSP created the global work for the Clubman launch. These spots were not part of that work.

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Jim W. Apr 11th, 2008 Link

The music to these has me cringing. I’m now going to hear that song in my worst dreams! Tell me, is this what they’re listening to down there in SA?

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bluzeke Apr 11th, 2008 Link

. . . all I know is I got led down the crooked path to watching MINIs do burnouts and then B-52’s crashing at air shows. Thanks Clubman! ;-)

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Timmee Apr 12th, 2008 Link

Well, they certainly are quirky, and do stand out between washing powder ads. They’re intended to make you think “WTF was that?” and are aimed at folk not au fait with the MINI brand. The ads are less than 30 seconds long, and are intended as teasers, drawing people to the MINI website for closer inspection.

Currently MINI are running the Clubmanitis ad (little boy being examined by a doctor with an earscope – doctor sees a Clubman racing around a track through the tunnel vision of his scope).

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rhawth99 Apr 12th, 2008 Link

Gag :-(

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Liquid Apr 15th, 2008 Link

Well, I’m from South Africa and I think they are thoroughly awful…not sure who the target market is, but it’s definitely not me!

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IZZY Apr 15th, 2008 Link

I have seen all three of the Clubman ads. I am not impressed at all and it seems like many South Africans are also questioning these ads.

Here is a link to a SA forum that is debating how sill the ad is: http://www.cartoday.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=050961

This ad is a let down compared to all the other previous exciting ones before. For example the BEE Sting add that was done in Cape Town.

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GregW Apr 24th, 2008 Link

I hate to say it but usually there has to be bikini clad women or close-ups of hooters somewhere in SA TV or films. Very Boer – ring!

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