You know how Oklahoma City and Tulsa always seem to make those cheesy "Top 10 Cities in America to Start a Business" or "21 Best Places in America to Raise a Family as You Waste Your Life Away?" magazine lists?
Well, Detroit is the opposite of that. The Auto Capital of the World makes them, too, but generally only the bad ones. You know, things like Despair Magazine's "12 American Cities That Will Make You Sad In A Heartbeat," Cold Sore Monthly's "The Best Places to Catch Herpes," and Debt Weekly's "Top 10 Destinations for Bankruptcy Attorneys."
Because of all that, this new campaign ad released by Tulsa mayoral candidate Kathy Taylor is kind of strange. It's a blatant rip-off the classic Chrysler 200 "Detroit" ad that ran in the Super Bowl a few years ago. It was the one that featured Eminem driving around looking all angry while some guy with a deep, raspy, blue-collar voice talks about everything Detroit has been through or something.
If you need your memory refreshed, here it is. It's actually a pretty cool ad, but it still can't hide the fact that Detroit sucks:
Here's Kathy Taylor's mayoral ad. I think it was produced by "We Ran Out of Original Ideas Years Ago" ad agency:
Here's a little word of advice. If you're going to rip-off or parody a popular national advertisement for your Tulsa mayoral campaign, don't choose the one that attempts to glorify arguably the worst city in America. It may make people think that you're comparing your town to Detroit, which is not the most positive thing in the world. Also, don't let an intern write your ad copy or hire a narrator who sounds like someone pretending to be a radio deejay.
Anyway, I wonder what Kathy's next campaign commercial will be like? Maybe they'll turn it up a notch and mock one of those Sarah McLachlan commercials. That wouldn't be a bad idea if they make it a negative campaign ad. Maybe show a bunch of injured animals stuck in Tulsa's traffic or trying to figure out something fun to do in Tulsa, and then pay Sara talk about how Kathy Taylor will fix those problems. I'll direct it for free.
