Fiat Abarth ad a scorcher
What are you staring at...?
The commercial is the latest to come from Fiat and Chrysler in the US as they try to raise the profile of their brands under the combined Fiat ownership.
A previous recent ad with Jennifer Lopez trying to sex up the virtues of the Fiat 500 Gucci edition looks to be easily outdone by the Abarth one with leggy runway star Catrinel Menghia.
Lopez’s spot featured her driving around New York in the 500 Gucci, extolling the cars virtues – and charring on about how elegance is hard work – while one of her songs plays in the background. Menghia’s depends on almost stereotyped Italian passion, and a strategically placed drop of latte foam.
The loose translation of Menghia’s script is along the lines of: "What are you staring at… are you undressing me with your eyes? Poor man, you can't resist. Is your heart pounding? Is your head spinning?”
More to the point would be: “Is your wallet opening … are you buying this?” It remains to be seen whether sex and style sells for the little cars. And whether it sells to women.
Fiat USA CEO Olivier Francis said that the advertisement was intended to be a viral advertisement on the internet “but I am considering running it as a TV advertisement too, but I am not sure. It may be too much.”
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