thoughts on life: big o tires; wtf?!
February 7, 2008 by Cash
It’s rare to find an ad that seems both racist AND creepy at the same time, but Big O Tires’ new campaign featuring “Little O” (pictured above) is just that.
Is that a rubber afro? Dreadlocks? Some unholy combination of the two? I have no idea. But coupled with the amputee nature of the beast (WHERE are his paws?! Has he been punished? Caught shoplifting in Saudi Arabia perhaps?), the whole thing just freaks me out.
Living in Denver I have to see these unsettling billboards daily. Somewhere, in an ad-mascot inhabited parallel universe, the Michelin Man is sipping scotch and smiling smugly.
I know someone with a Kitchen Aide Mixer… It’s real nice.
hmm, maybe this is related to the last post about “you’re a pervert”.
i see a bad marketing decision trying to come up with some mascot that would easily be synonymous with tires. the amputee look has to do with his “pawprints” looking like tires viewed from the side. and the hair i can see being an attempt to emulate the look of the tire with the little bits of rubber sticking up. maybe you’re the racist…. hmmm
just playing devil’s advocate here. right after i steal the michelin man’s scotch from him.
racist!
The “hair” on the mascot is supposed to be those spiky rubber things that you see on new tires which are called sprues. They are just a side effect of the way tires are manufactured (in molds).
Racist.
The allegations are outrageous; some of my best friends are freakishly happy parapledgic teddy bears with bizarre hairdos.
All kidding aside though; goat/brandon- good points all. I guess being car free for a year and a half has taken its toll on my auto parts knowledge.
I totally stand by my main point though; “Little O” is the worst ad-mascot in recent memory. I don’t know who their target demographic is, but even if I still WAS buying tires, “Little O” wouldn’t entice me to give them my business.
Yeah, I agree, I don’t understand their marketing campaign either, I was just giving you grief.
Those commercials annoy the hell out of me on the oft chance that I catch them (usually during the news). Especially that new one with the barber complaining about “Little O”…