Back in the early ’90′s when Leslie Mapes and I worked together at Little Tikes, the “best selling car in America” was a strong campaign.
Leslie created a whole campaign around the “best selling” aspect. The story was picked up by Peter Jennings on the national evening news. She contacted Ford and got a quote from their spokesperson who pretended to be upset about it beating the Ford Taurus. And she got the Chicago Auto show to feature the Cozy Coupe Car with a tongue in cheek announcement as they pulled back the curtain to reveal preschoolers “driving” their cars into the front of the stage.
It was a good angle then… and almost 20 years later, it’s still a good angle! Crain’s Cleveland Business just did an article about it. The Auto Blog featured a story (America’s Best Selling Car Isn’t What You Might Think.) The Chicago Tribune covered the Cozy Coupe Car’s entrance into the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.
There’s nothing like “evergreen” PR.
One reason I think it worked so well, is the light hearted angle of the story when things are so serious in the auto industry.
How can you piggy back some PR by coming up with a tongue in cheek, light hearted angle for your product that plays off of a much more serious, constantly-in-the-news story?
Take a minute to comment and let me know what you think.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That was an awsome pr campaign. Very cool, that toy car is a classic though, I see it everywhere!
Fran:
Thanks so much for leaving a comment! Yes, the Cozy Coupe Car is really a childhood classic, isn’t it?!
Chris