Chevy’s “Real People, Not Actors” TV commercial is in question.
Consumer World, a Massachusetts-based consumer advocacy group, has asked Chevrolet for its latest car advertisement, “Real People, Not Actors.” The campaign was uploaded to Youtube on January 1, 2019 and aired this month on TV. It features Ford, Toyota and Honda car owners who are asked which brand they believe is most reliable. Chevy emerged as the most reliable brand, according to a nationwide survey.
Consumer advocates claim that the TV commercial is misleading because it states in the fine print: “Survey based upon 2015 model year vehicles. For Ipsos study information, visit ChevyReliability.com.” Problem is that the Equinox’s most recent model years are shown in the commercial Silverado.
Traverse, Malibu, and a Traverse – All four vehicles have received significant updates since 2015.According to Automotive News the Chevy commercial referred to a survey that Ipsos conducted over the past 12 months. Paris-based Ipsos used 2015 model-year cars from December 2014 to June 2015. This confusion is understandable since the cars featured in the commercial are not the most recent versions.
Chevrolet responded to the call of the advocates and stated that it “stands behind the claim” and will continue to run the advertisement.
Reliability is a long-term issue. While comparing a current model’s reliability to its predecessor-generation model may not be a bad idea, it does have its Waterloo. As pointed out by Automotive News, Consumer Reports Auto Reliability Survey ranked Chevrolet 23rd out of 29 car brands “because the redesigned Traverse had ‘Much-Worse-Than-Average’ reliability.”
To be fair, Consumer Reports used a vastly different sample size to conduct its survey. It looked at more than 500,000 vehicles from 2000 through 2018. Ipsos however, compared 48.700 Chevrolet, Buick and GMC vehicles with other brands in terms of parts that were replaced or repaired over the past 12 months.