This advertisement got my attention, but not in a good way. The image of pliers grabbing a tooth made me immediately turn away. It didn’t get me curious what the ad was about, what was being sold, or who was selling. All I could think about was, “uggh!”.

The point of the ad is that every 3 years (or so), when people are shopping for a car, they inwardly groan.The #1 least trusted profession is used car salesman. A new car salesman is not much more trusted. This advertisement is focused on reducing pain (a good thing), but misses its mark.

First, let’s figure out the basic marketing strategy for this car dealership:

For local legal drivers

who need a new car

we have a system

to prevent the hassle of dealerships

unlike other non-trustworthy dealers/salespeople

our offering as transparent and easy as can be

Okay, so how to change the ad? Since the underlying pain is un-trustworthiness, try to make the association to professions that are trustworthy (according to a Harris Poll ): doctors, dentists, or nurses.

Here are some ideas:

• Your Prescription For Pain-Free Car Shopping [key words are: car shopping (who), pain-free, and prescription (association to medical professionals)]
• The New Way To Shop For Your Next Car [key words are: shop/car (who), new way (instead of the old/yucky way)]
• We Feel Your Car Shopping Pain [key words are: car shopping (who), pain, and we feel (emotional connection)]

Also, I would change the graphic from pliers/massage to a salesperson wearing a white coat (embroidered with the logo of the dealership) to further the association.