Mitsubishi Asks Super Bowl Fans 'What Are You Doing This Weekend?'
1 February 1999
Mitsubishi Motors Confidently Asks Super Bowl Fans 'What Are You Doing This Weekend?'New Montero Sport Ad Debuts in Sunday's Super Bowl Lineup CYPRESS, Calif., Jan. 29 -- While many football fans this weekend may be out doing the "dirty bird" dance, Mitsubishi Motors suggests that they could be doing something more. A new ad for the company's popular Montero Sport mid-size sport utility vehicle will make its debut to a high-powered playing field of consumers during the third quarter of this weekend's Super Bowl. "Mitsubishi wants to be a world class brand and they're demonstrating it with confident advertising," said Eric Hirshberg, executive vice president, creative director of Deutsch Inc., Mitsubishi Motors' advertising agency. "Beyond the obvious opportunity to reach the world's biggest audience, there is also an important non-verbal communication here: take this brand seriously. Mitsubishi is not currently a brand one would expect to see on the Super Bowl." The 30-second Montero Sport ad, filmed in Lake Powell, N.M., and scored with Ozzy Osbourne's hit song "Crazy Train," is a continuation of the successful "wake up and drive(TM)" campaign that Deutsch launched for the company last August with the 1999 Galant mid-size sedan. While the spot itself authenticates the Montero Sport's off-road capability, both visually and spiritually, it also brings the viewer back to his own everyday life. As the Montero Sport drives through a glorious outdoor environment, a graphic headline states, "The golf course doesn't count as getting back to nature." The voice-over then asks that viewers, "What are you doing this weekend?" "The 'wake up and drive' campaign has been an enormous success for Mitsubishi Motors," said Peg Dilworth-Hunt, director of marketing for Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc. (MMSA). "There's a whole new energy within our organization that's embodied in our brand awareness campaign, and more importantly, has created an emotional connection between ourselves and consumers." Mitsubishi Motors' partnership with Deutsch recently expanded when the agency was awarded MMSA's entire national advertising business including collateral, direct mail, interactive and Hispanic efforts. As of this week, Deutsch was also named "Agency of the Year," by the industry's leading trade publications Advertising Age and AdWeek. Deutsch, Inc. is a $785 million full-service advertising agency with offices in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc., was established in 1982 by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Tokyo, and markets a full line of vehicles, including coupes, convertibles, sedans and sport utility vehicles.