Acura’s Super Bowl “Transaction” ad did its job, says Honda’s chief marketing officer

The Super Bowl ad that featured Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno competing with each other to get the upcoming Acura NSX sports car was so effective that its Web site crashed just moments after the Super Bowl ended. Its traffic increased by 3,000%. According to Mike Accavitti, American Honda's chief marketing officer, the Web site was down for around 10 minutes. The ad was posted Jan. 30 on its Web site. Since that day until Feb. 6, it had received 16 million views. Accavitti was interviewed last Tuesday at an Acura press event before the Chicago Auto Show opened.

In this ad, Seinfeld and Leno attempt to bribe the man who possesses the rights to the first 2015 NSX supercar. The NSX concept made its debut at the Detroit auto show last month. It will go on sale in around three years. Accavitti pointed out that this direction that Acura has taken “isn't by accident.” He said this “well thought-out, laser-focused plan” will get Acura on people's shopping lists since it has these new products to be revealed soon.

Showrooms will get the redesigned 2013 RDX crossover and the latest edition to the Acura line, the compact 2013 ILX sedan, starting this spring. Accavitti said that the traffic driving that the company did with the ad offered the results that it was looking for. Visitors to the Web site also clicked on Acura’s other models aside from the NSX, RDX and ILX.

Source;
http://www.4wheelsnews.com/acuras-super-bowl-transaction-ad-did-its-job-says-hondas-chief-marketing-of/

Putty Puddy From Seinfeld Pitching Honda Outtakes Most Hilarious Commercial Ever

This gets so much funnier once we realize that he's parodying the eharmony cat lady below....

Honda replaces Mr. Opportunity with 'Seinfeld' actor

Mr. Opportunity should stop knocking. Honda’s found a new (and human) spokesman.

The animated character was known for his appearances in the automaker’s commercials for clearance events –- and for irritating legions of consumers with his blandness.

The “I Hate Mr. Opportunity!” Facebook page is filled with distaste for his “carefully ironed khaki trousers” and his similarity to “your high school geometry teacher.” The group’s description says: “Every time his commercials air, his personality grates on us, like the proverbial pebble in our collective shoe.”

Last year, one of Mr. Opportunity’s ads was voted the third worst in the country by visitors to the Consumerist blog, behind spots from Staples and Quiznos.

But lately, those viewers have noticed Mr. Opportunity’s absence from television screens and radio waves. Former "Seinfeld" actor Patrick Warburton is in his place on-air, calling himself an "all-out-multimedia-Honda-knowledge-dropping-tour-de-force.”

Warburton even takes a shot at Mr. Opportunity: “This year, they sent a man in to do a cartoon man’s job.”

The character’s demise stems from the ripple effect of the Japanese earthquake earlier this year on the supply chain and summer promotional campaigns, according to Honda’s ad agency RPA, via the Consumerist. Still, both RPA and Honda say Mr. Opportunity may not be gone for good.

Source

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/09/honda-replaces-mr-opportunity-with-seinfeld-actor.html