Chrysler's Appeal to Hypocrisy

Let me just start off by saying I love Jim Gaffigan. He is absolutely hilarious, but then again should he really be the one to be the salesperson for Chrysler's 2017 minivan? I don't think so. This car is trying to advertise that it is a "dad brand" as Jim says many times in this commercial, and I don't really see Jim as being the best image for a dad, probably just because I've watched him crack jokes a few many times.

Anyways, this commercial is trying to say that dads do a lot of stuff, just like moms do. It never flat out says this, but you can kind of get the implicit message that they're sending out to consumers. During the entire video, Jim is saying how he never does anything the easy way, and that he always does the hard stuff by himself without any help from others, but while he's saying this, the car is parking itself next to the tennis court. So that is obviously the appeal to hypocrisy because he specifically states that he never lets anyone or anything do something that he could do himself, while he's letting the car park itself. What a "strong dad," right?



Also, this commercial uses the simple technique of Testimonial. Jim Gaffigan endorses this product and tries to advertise to other dads that are seeking out a new car. This was an easy way for advertisers to get the attention of consumers because many people ignore commercials unless they see something funny or someone they know. So of course when people see this and recognize Jim, they are going to want to watch the commercial to see how Jim advertises! I do this all the time. Whenever I'm watching a recorded show and I see a commercial that I think looks funny, I stop fast forwarding and watch it to see the product and the people endorsing it.

Lastly, this "dad brand" of minivans is so different from anything I've ever seen before. Usually, there is s mom driving the minivan all over town with a bunch of kids in the car being crazy. I found an example of this here. This commercial is advertising a sandwich spot, but it has a lot of the characteristics I talked about. So do you see the difference in commercials? A final question before I go is why are women always portrayed as having crazy kids in the car, while men always miraculously have the kids quiet in the back being calm?

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment below. :)