GM Promotes Sale With Transformers

There are movie tie-ins and then there are movie tie-ins. Starting today and running through July 9, General Motors is advertising a “Transform Your Ride” sale on select models. The sale is tied in with “The Transformers,” which opens July 3. Buyers can get 0% financing for 36 months — if they qualify — or $1,000 cash back. These deals are in addition to current offers which can be found on Cars.com's Incentives page. 

As sales go, this isn’t even close to the huge discounts of summers past, but the TV commercials are promised to be high-definition with 5.1 surround sound and will include images of robots from the movie, many of which transform into GM vehicles. A list of eligible cars can be found below, but we’re more intrigued by the movie than this sale.

Eligible Vehicles

Chevrolet: 2006 and 2007 Cobalt, Monte Carlo, Impala, HHR, TrailBlazer, Tahoe, Suburban, Avalanche and 2007 900-series Silverado

Buick: 2006 and 2007 Lacrosse, Lucerne and Rainier

Pontiac: 2006 and 2007 G5, G6, Grand Prix and Torrent

GMC: Envoy, Yukon, Yukon Denali, Yukon XL, Yukon XL Denali and 2007 900-series Sierra  

Comments

[Lil'Tom]

I can't be the only dork out there that wants GM to make special edition Transformers vehicles. That hardtop Solstice is hot, and I know people would buy a jacked up Sierra. The ads could say, “Meet your new Sierragate Penis.”

[Dan]

LT-
As long as they also turned into robots and fought evil, I'd buy one! :)

[505Accent]

Dan-
The ONLY way I'd purchase any GM vehicle (save for a Corvette, possibly) would be IF it turned into a robot and fought evil!!! Then my new Solstice could transform and tear apart the guy in the new Miata at the light next to me making fun of how cheap and impractical my car's interior is. (If I had such a Solstice, that is.)

[Troy]

This trend reminds me of the fast food chains who tend to put current trend, movie related, toys in their kid's meals. What gives with the Big 3 using kid related advertising? My kid won't be making the vehicle buying decision so what gives?

Chrysler with Jimmy Neutron now GM with the Transformers. Will Ford soon offer Big Bird Yellow Mustangs and the Kermit the Frog Edition F-150's?

[Dan]

Troy-
It worked for Camel cigarettes.

[Troy]

Dan,

You're right. In the 90's 5 out of 6 kids recognized the "Camel" at a glance. Was that a good thing?

The whole transformer idea is just to fly by night gimmicky IMO. Why not go back to "The Heartbeat of America" and "Like a Rock"?

[Dan]

Troy-
Nope it certainly wasn't a good thing. I find that it was a despicable advertising trick that I was glad to see finally come to an end. But why was I so upset about it? Because it worked. It got an association into kids' heads early that Camel cigarettes were cool by grabbing their attention with something they related to, cartoons. While true that minors can get cigarettes more easily than automobiles, and (though some of us car guys may argue) that cigarettes are more addictive than automobiles, I think the advertiser's goal is to instill a particular image of a brand early in a child's life. (and ofcourse, theres the whining kid factor too) I would think that's what their intention is here, but advertising is a strange thing, you never really know if it's going to work or not. So you make a good point that it's odd to advertise to kids who aren't buying cars for years to come, but I'm guessing their motivation here may be to try something that worked for someone else.

[Dave T.]

Except there are a ton of 30 year olds like me who can't wait for this movie to relive their childhood and maybe this works on them. all the extra commercials with transformers is cool to me.

[Dev M]

I'm with Dave on this one. I grew up watching Transformers and saw it last night. I'm in my mid - 20's and I'm coming into a lot of disposable income at the moment, and I will be buying a GM vehicle in the coming week(Most likely a black Sierra p/u).

And the movie was awesome!

[Troy]

I can see "Tires for Life" and "Limited Lifetime Warranty" in the future. Seems like GM has run the gamut of sales gimmicks and they don't seem to be working IMO. If the Camaro from the movie was currently for sale, I could see the Transformer Gimmick paying off.

[cody]

Yeah, I think Dave T nailed it. GM spent the money to get its vehicles in the movie, which a lot of guys in their 30's (me too!) have gone out to see, and is now wringing every bit of advertising they can out of it. This pitch will probably be used as long as the movie is making the theater rounds.

The comparison to Camel targeting kids back in the day is a bit extreme. GM cars don't cause cancer... and I wouldn't purchase a car based on my kids whining.

505Accent, come on, the Solstice interior is more Spartan than cheap, and no cup holders does not an impractical interior make. None of our cars had cup holders in the 80s and earlier, and we somehow survived... besides, the guy in the Miata you're worrying about making fun of you is driving a chick car.

[Tom Muse]

Nice Movie, Now improve the cars. Quality please.