Yahoo Autos The Evolution of the Pickup Buyer Told Through 30 Years of Commercials
The 2000 GMC Sierra was made for contractors who worked in the northern states and wanted a little comfort in their lives. It also signaled the second major turning point for utility pickup trucks.
The first turning point was when Chrysler embraced the middle-schooler mindset and crated the "I'm a Big Boy Now" redesigned Dodge Ram in the early 90s. But the early 2000's GMC Sierra is one of the most important pickup trucks in America because it tipped the entire North American Truck market from "trucks are rough and rugged" to "trucks are rough and rugged, but comfortable." It was not a sudden change, but a slow evolution since the truck was first introduced in the 1980s.
Pickup trucks before the GMC Sierra were basic vehicles with air conditioning being the most luxurious option. Pickups fell into two categories:
Stripped out fleet vehicles given to concrete workers who are up to eight Vicodin a day and WILL wreck every volume knob, vent, and radio present in a subconscious and passive-aggressive battle to get back at the boss for a wrong suffered long ago and for long-forgotten reasons.
Dads with extended families so large grandmothers and great-uncles are dying-off every year. Estate sales are the norm. Every breathing male with, no more than one herniated disk, is expected to show up and clear out Pop-Pop Marvin's ranch house. You need a truck you can nick up because Marvin's house is full of cargo bed-gouging Ethan Allen furniture, console record-players, and Pat Garrett memorabilia.
The GMC Sierra was the first truck to embrace leather, heated seats, premium sound, heated mirrors, cuddly-soft seat cushioning, and cream in your coffee. The marketing did this so slyly and so slowly, it meant you could be comfortable in your truck and still be a man. After all, there were no four-bangers here-the smallest engine available was the Vortec 4.3-liter V6. The largest was a Dodge-Ram-busting 8.1-liter V8.
Don't believe me? Let's do a shot-by-shot breakdown of GMC Sierra commercials from the 80s into the 2010s and analyze how the marketing changed. Don't worry about what's said, worry about what you see.
1987 GMC Sierra Commercial
Breakdown:
Fade in on a garage. Lights turn on. Fly fishing rods mounted on a wall in a fan formation provide a path for the eye to fall on three vehicles: BMW 7-Series, Jaguar E-Type, GMC Sierra, all facing left. A man in a brown blazer and loose fitting blue tie walks past the three cars, smiling condescendingly at the E-Type. He enters the pickup truck and immediately we see him driving along a dusty road, driving toward the right of the frame and violating the 180-degree rule of photography. The visual narrative means that the protagonist is a different man now than he was in the garage, with those offending foreign cars. Isn't this interesting? All that info, and we are just eight seconds in.
The truck enters an urban environment. The protagonist is standing next to a SHORTER man who smiles at the protagonist, lowers his head, and then points to the protagonist's truck and nods. Close-up shot of the speedometer rising. Hard cut to the truck back on a country dirt road, driving toward the viewer. Clouds of dust rise from behind the truck. A few more turns and the viewer sees an older man along the side of a road next to an early 50s GM pickup truck, immaculate. The silhouetted figure is revealed to be an elderly gentleman wearing a fly-fishing hat and vest. The younger protagonist and the older fly fisherman reach out to shake each other's hands while dogs run around their feet. The sun is setting. The men face each other. The trucks face each other. All respect tradition. The protagonist, no longer wearing a tie, helps the fatherly fly fisherman load gear into the back of the GMC Sierra. The fly fisherman humorously drives off in the boy-faced protagonist's truck. Fade to title.
Analysis:
This is a story of a man rejecting luxury for the traditions of the past. The message is simple: A GMC Sierra honors thy father.
1988 GMC Sierra Commercial
Breakdown:
Establishing scene: a wide, high-angle shot of a truck driving on a dirt road away from the viewer. The truck is driving up into a lush canyon. The horizon is obscured. Cut to the truck driving toward the viewer. The vehicle has reached the canyon bed, where it drives into a shallow creek, clear water squirting up between its tires. Tight shot on the driver: male with eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses. Tracking shot of the red-and-silver GMC Sierra driving toward the right side of the frame, carrying a load of hay or straw. Cut to helicopter shot of truck driving out of the canyon. The canyon is dry now, spent. Tight shot of boulders falling on the road before the truck. Dramatic tension. Close-up of driver. He grips the steering wheel at 11 and 2. Tight shot of a dusty, laced hiking shoe pressing on the brake pedal. The nose of the truck stops inches from the fallen boulders. The driver exits the truck as the camera pulls back into the sky, showing a windy canyon road, fallen boulders, and a clean, untouched GMC Sierra. Crossfade to the driver taking off his sunglasses while leaning on the A-Pillar of the truck-blonde hair and blonde mustache. He bops a loose fist on roof of the GMC Sierra, nods, and mustache-smiles to the camera. Fade to title.
Analysis:
Like the previous commercial, this is a simple story, but a little more risque. A man is dating a woman (represented by the lush canyon), but he is ready to throw the brakes on the relationship (represented by . . . brakes) when baggage starts flying (represented by falling boulders). Sound advice.
1995 GMC Sierra Commercial
Breakdown:
Opening shot of a red GMC ten-wheel industrial dump truck in an empty aircraft hanger. A silhouetted figure approaches the truck wearing a welding mask and holding an oxy-acetylene torch. The industrial truck towers over the figure. Close up of the man igniting the cutting torch and lowering the mask. Montage sequence of the man cutting the industrial dump truck vertically along the truck's prime meridian. The industrial dump truck splits in two, where it is revealed to be an empty shell filled with smoke. Inside is a 1995 GMC Sierra painted the same red as the dump truck it was inside. Profile shot of the GMC Sierra framed by smoking body panels from the formerly intact industrial dump truck. Fade to title.
Analysis:
This story is surreal. It describes the futility of fanciful boyhood dreams, the belittling nature of young adulthood, and the compromises we must make as mature adults. The moral is that you can still obtain some version of your boyhood dreams, but they aren't going to be what you expect. This sounds anti-consumerist, but it is very effective. Your childhood dreams were silly, but you can still have a taste: the GMC Sierra. You're an adult. but we acknowledge your childhood, and it wasn't all wrong. A sensible story.
1998 GMC Sierra Commercial
Breakdown:
Cinéma vérité open on military helicopters. Film is tinted blue. A 1998 GMC Sierra flies though the air, suspended on cables. Cut to establishing shot of the helicopter carrying the Sierra. Zooming jib shot of a clean-shaven man in a hard hat. The man looks out of frame to the upper left. The shot zooms in on his eyes. The man is wearing yellow safety glasses. Jump cut to the helicopter with landing lights turned on. Smash cut to front fascia of the Sierra, also with lights on. Ground-up shot looking up at an older man in hard hat. His workman's jacket is open, flapping in the wind. The helicopter hovers overhead. The man's torso fills half of the frame. He assertively talks on a handheld radio.
Cinéma vérité shot of men running around a construction site. Rotor wash blows dust and dirt into the air. An industrial dump truck stands motionless in the background. Wide, low-angle shot of the helicopter lowering the suspended GMC Sierra to the ground. An industrial dump truck takes up the left portion of the frame. Rapid smash cuts of suspension wires breaking. The GMC Sierra falls the final two feet to earth, bouncing once on its tires. Older handheld radio man puts down his radio. He speaks to clean-shaven, up-looking man seen earlier. The men speak and nod to each other. They laugh, showing white teeth. Slow zooming shot of red GMC Sierra. Smoke rises from the earth behind the truck. A grizzled mature man, with light facial stubble, looks toward the viewer. His hard hat is equipped with a headlamp. The light flashes the camera for a moment. Clean-shaven, up-looking man, from earlier, looks up. Fade to title.
Analysis:
This story is more simple than you think. It's a cowboy whisling for his horse. You've seen that scene in every western movie. The hero gunslinger, standing alone, raises two fingers to his lips (represented by the handheld radio). The cowboy whistles loudly and, by divine miracle (represented by the helicopter), his faithful horse arrives (represented by the Sierra).
Pure fantasy. No one had their work truck delivered to them by a turbine-powered helicopter burning a gallon of JP-8 fuel every 10 minutes. This is a fairy tale story for men who walk though each day like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. But this commercial shows how far we've come already from that simple story of Father-Son respect. The Sierra has moved beyond a simple truck to something that is more than the sum of its frame and body. It is a comfortable cocoon for diving completely into your boyhood fantasies. You're not compromising them anymore; you're living them.
2005 GMC Sierra Commercial
Breakdown:
Open on chase shot of a GMC Sierra from the front. The truck charges the viewer though a mud-soaked oil refinery. The Sierra is covered in mud. Every inch of the vehicle is caked in brown slop. The wiper blades swing back and forth, clearing the filth away. The headlights are obscured by the messy wet dirt. The pickup dives into a sizable puddle. More fresh brown. Montage sequence of the truck crashing about. More puddles. Splash! Brown! Splash! Brown! Arial jib shot-dusty brown. Smash cut to low-angle shot of truck stopped. The door opens. We see only legs and boots descend from the cab and deliberately step into a puddle. Small splash, small brown. Cut to the upper torso of a man walking toward the front of the truck. His head is cut off by the top of the camera frame. The figure produces a handkerchief and wipes off the "GMC" logo on the Sierra's grille. The figure walks away (again, head not visible), leaving the truck a drippy and dirty mess. Crossfade to the truck, now perfectly clean, resting in the same location. Smash cut to a J.D Power and Associates award while a front-end loader drives, out of focus, in the background. Fade to title.
Analysis:
If you thought the cowboy story was simple, get this: This is the story of a man comfortable with himself and his desires.
We see a man indulging in what he enjoys. Whatever he wants, he pursues, and it is okay. So, why NOT have heated seats? You're seeing a man doing what he wants on his own terms and for his own reasons. Damn anyone who thinks otherwise. He'll leave his turn-ons (the Sierra) right in front of you. He'll clean up his urges (the logo) just enough so you know damn well what what he is about. Then he gets a trophy.
Get it? This is brilliant marketing! GMC, over the course of 18 years, appealed to man's desire to be himself to such an extreme, having comfy heated seats is a sensible option. GM up-sold the Sierra name, not by advertising a sofa-like interior, but flying way past that, and appealing to the rawer part of the male brain. The part run by desire instead of logic.
So, why not have some heated seats?
2015 GMC Commercial
Breakdown:
Opening shot of a highly polished truck hood. Smash cut to seaside city at dusk. A baseball park is lit up. The green grass contrasts the dark purple sky and water. Smash cut to dark GMC truck driving slowly though a tunnel. Reaction shot of truck driving toward the viewer while focusing on the truck emblem and the bright red GMC logo. We cut again to the truck's hood as florescent lights travel over its reflective surface. Cut to young boys walking across a bridge. One of the boys holds a baseball bat. The other boy, a blonde, tosses a baseball to himself-very Norman Rockwell-esque. You see a montage shot of a baseball statue which is inter-cut with real baseball players during a night game. The camera holds tight on the pitcher's eyes and then reverse shots to the catcher squatting low. The camera holds tight on a blonde boy's brown eyes. The camera swings wide to show the stadium from the sky in a sweeping three-quarters establishing shot. Smash cut to a bird's-eye view of the black GMC Sierra driving on empty city streets. It looks like GTA 1. We cut to a low angle shot of the GMC Sierra driving along the city streets. The wheels turn slowly.
We return to the baseball game. We see the batter at home plate. Computerized graphics of the batter's strike zone appear-"Terminator Vision." The camera returns to the Sierra. The camera is tight on lit turn signals integrated into side mirrors. We cut to a pull-focus shot of the catcher's masked face, and a tight shot on the catcher's extended pinkie finger. Return shot of the pitcher's nodding eyes and hat brim. Smash cut to headlights of GMC Sierra, still driving slowly on city street. Montage of pitcher winding up to throw, interspersed with slow city-driving shots of the GMC Sierra. The montage continues-pitcher throws ball, Sierra drives slow, and the film shifts to a slow-motion shot of the baseball flying through the air and traveling through the strike zone, low and outside, but still fair. The number "95" flashes over the frame in green digital typeface. Smash cut to umpire pumping his arms. Smash cut to costume mascot twirling. For a fraction of a second, a newspaper appears in the frame with the headline: "SPORTS BASEBALL: UN-HITTABLE!" Cut to straight-on shot of the front fascia of the GMC Sierra approaching the viewer and looming large in the frame. Fade to title which says "Precision." Cross dissolve to lineup of GMC trucks with the words "We are professional grade" overlaid in the frame. The End.
Analysis:
This final commercial shows the GMC Sierra's total rejection of all of its "country" origins. The driver of the truck is never seen. The truck never travels on dirt or hauls anything in its bed. There are no interactions with other cars. No other vehicles are shown. The baseball narrative is a representation of the past glory of GMC, but at the same time, the glory no longer interacts with the product. The visual narrative recognizes that the past glory of GMC exists (the wholesome baseball game), but there is no real-world connection to it because the market has moved on (the urban-dwelling pickup truck), mostly by price point. GMC trucks easily cost over $50,000 now. In fact, the truck and the baseball game never interact on screen. GMC trucks are luxury products, equal in amenities to any Cadillac from previous years. GM is looking market demand right in the face and giving it the desired product.
We've come a long way from fatherly values. There are no old men in this 2015 commercial, no room for age. The visual narrative, by having the Sierra (new age) and the baseball game (past glory) not interact, drives a wedge between the old GM of the 80s and the new GM. You are meant to think that the fat price point and the cozy interior is okay because the spirit of the old rough-and-ready GMC Sierra exists in the new, even if you will never get it dirty.
