Cars.com to open 'Why Drama' campaign with Super Bowl spot
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LOS ANGELES -- Cars.com will return to the Super Bowl next month with a commercial touting how the vehicle shopping Web site takes the drama out of car buying.
In a statement, Cars.com says the commercial will be the first of a new ad campaign -- dubbed "Why Drama" -- that the company says will air beyond the 2013 calendar year. The spot will mark the Web site's sixth straight year as a Super Bowl advertiser.
To generate buzz ahead of the Super Bowl, Cars.com released teasers in print and online, including a Web page, www.cars.com/whydrama.
Cars.com is withholding the full commercial until the Super Bowl. The spot is the first work that ad agency McGarryBowen Chicago has done for Cars.com. Automotive News affiliate Advertising Age reported in May that Cars.com tapped McGarryBowen as its agency of record after an account review in which the shopping site's former agency of more than 10 years, DBB, did not participate.
One teaser video opens with a shot inside a dealership as a voice says over dramatic music, "At Cars.com, we take the drama out of car shopping." The teaser is tongue-in-cheek, showing a customer talking about how Cars.com's comparison tools made shopping easy, to which a salesman replies, "But you were hoping for a little bit more drama?"
The teaser then cuts among similar scenes as ominous music plays in the background.
Another video on the Web page and uploaded to YouTube shows a focus group reacting to the upcoming Super Bowl spot before a jealous boyfriend barges into the room and disrupts the group.
The humorous approach is something of a staple for Cars.com. Last year's spot, dubbed "Confident You," showed a dealership customer talking to a salesman while a second, miniature singing head popped out of the customer's body, symbolizing the customer's inner confidence.
You can reach Ryan Beene at rbeene@crain.com. -- Follow Ryan on 
