Chevy's User-Generated Campaign Flop

This online marketing campaign was fueled by the popularity of a new advertising trend: user generated advertising. Many companies today are using user-generated ads to capture audiences as well as boost credibility and likeablity toward the company brand. We have seen countless brands including Disney, Toyota, and MasterCard employ this tactic successfully, gaining great exposure for their brand. However, not all of these user-generated campaigns go as planned. In 2006, Chevy launched a web-based campaign based off of the popular TV show ,The Apprentice, that allowed users to generate ads for the new Chevy Tahoe using stock footage along with their personal text input. The top rated ads would then be displayed on the website for other viewers to appreciate. Chevy was attempting to create an outlet for consumers to come and create their own Chevy experience while interacting directly with the Chevy brand. Although this campaign was well intentioned, it back fired for Chevy when some of the featured top ads were actually attacking the car for its harmful effects on the environment. Videos featuring footage of the car accompanied by entertaining anti-SUV lingo made for some interesting advertising that Chevy surely didn't anticipate. Some activists found out about the campaign and used it as a way to get their message out, which ended up overshadowing Chevy's advertising effort.

   Essentially, this ad campaign was a complete failure considering anti-Chevy messages were being run on Chevy's own servers. Had the videos been better monitored and gone through an approval process before being posted on the website, maybe Chevy wouldn't have advertised against themselves. Unfortunately for Chevy, their attempt to follow the user-generated trend resulted in viral parody videos circulating the webs on YouTube, that you can still find today. This example helps to give perspective on the amount of damage a failed marketing campaign can do to a brand. While SUVs in general suffer from environmental attack, the there is no doubt that the Tahoe brand lost credibility among audiences with this marketing flub.