Nissan pulled a racy ad in New Zealand.
“Japanese car maker Nissan said Friday it has pulled a raunchy commercial starring ”Sex and the City” actress Kim Cattrall from New Zealand television after complaints over its content. Cattrall, who played the sex-obsessed, promiscuous Samantha Jones in the HBO series, appears in the ad purring with excitement about Nissan’s new sedan. “Why didn’t you tell me it was so big? I just wasn’t prepared for it,” she said, gushing. ”The all-new Nissan Tiida makes you feel really, really, really good inside.” She tells a salesman: ”Ah! That was amazing. Absolutely fabulous! I mean, the great body and the way you moved it.”
Nissan lost a chance for significant buzz here with International news stories and not having the New Zealand version of the ad up on Youtube. Shame on you guys for hiring an ad agency who doesn’t think bigger than that.
It also brings into question the age old car industry practice of renaming cars with different templates around the world when they are the same model. The new Nissan Versa in the US appears to be the same car and could have benefited from this as well. Another lost opportunity here for Nissan.