Message: "We Car."

From Ask Figaro:

Dear Figaro,
Fiat recently introduced a retro Fiat-500, a tiny automobile.  The slogan is:  “You are, we car.: Please, Figaro, analyse and evaluate this slogan for me. Figarist forever, I wait for your expert opinion.
Arie Vrolijk

Dear Arie,

“You are, we car” employs an anthimeria, the verbing figure, which turns nouns into verbs, adjectives into nouns, and the like. Fiat is into carring, apparently. It’s also into identity strategies, using a campaign that emphasizes the “500,000 car combinations” the model offers, allowing you to find the car that’s just for you. The car company hopes your unconscious will do this fallacious little syllogism:

You are the essence of you.
Fiat is the essence of car. Ergo,
Fiat is the essence of you.

Figaro would not want to meet the focus groups who approved this message.

Snappy Answer: “We don’t car for you.”

Comments

[Martha]

Har-rible. Wonder if they were paid $10 mil for that dandy little slogan the same way that truly forward-thinking marketing firm was paid for dreaming up the PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Monday" brainchild? Probably the same company.

[Willfully Ignorant]

Not since Utah paid millions of dollars for the two word slogan "life elevated" have I been so disgusted.

[Roger Hebert]

While it is an anthimeria, it's also an unintentional pun (wee car).

[Marie]

So you don't thinking they're a very carring company?

[Stefan]

Hi Figaro,

another snappy answer is:

'Be carful when you drive a Fiat.'

Greetings,

Stefan

[Figaro]

Figarists seem to comprise quite a few autodidacts.

Fig.

[Alex]

Gruesome, I'm gruesomed.

[Simon Stegel]

In the mean time, there is a lot of talk about the slogan and about the manufacture (Fiat). They have reached their goal :)