GM PRESS RELEASE– During Super Bowl XLI, Chevrolet debuted the winning ad from the Chevy Super Bowl College Ad Challenge on network television. The ad was the original concept of Katelyn (Katie) Crabb of North Prairie, WI. Chevy was the first to announce their competition last fall for a consumer-generated ad for the Super Bowl. The competition focused on college students and asked that their ad concept focus on one of Chevy’s cars and crossovers targeted to the youth market, the Aveo, Cobalt, HHR, or Equinox. The winning ad concept was selected after students from across the country submitted their ideas to Chevrolet last fall.
“Chevy wanted to learn what resonates with the younger buyer, and this competition gave us an opportunity to do that. We were able to engage in creative dialogue with them about our brand and teach them about the real-world of advertising. The resulting ad is so much fun!” said Kim Kosak, Chevrolet General Director, Chevrolet Advertising and Sales Promotion.
“It was great to have this opportunity. I was so excited that I got to be on the set when the ad for the HHR was filmed – the car and the set were really cool,” said Katie Crabb – winner of the ad challenge. "I really enjoyed it all - meeting the other finalists, learning about the production process from Chevy - from music selection to editing – it was all fascinating. And now to see the final ad on TV – it’s been an amazing experience,” she said.
The 30 second spot was directed by Bryan Buckley, of Hungry Man Productions, and was produced by Chevrolet and Campbell-Ewald, their lead advertising agency.
Katie came up with the idea for the ad as part of a class project through University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Her faculty advisor, Jessica McBride notified Katie that she was a finalist and would be going to Detroit for an all-expense paid trip in late October. During the trip, Katie was able to learn and experience first hand the advertising world. She and the other four finalist teams spent time learning about the cars and crossovers, and refining their concepts, before presenting them to the executives from Chevrolet and Campbell-Ewald.
“Chevrolet is thrilled we were able to help students realize their dreams of participating in real-world advertising. It was great to work with Katie on this ad. Katie’s a smart girl; she understood the importance of the idea and ran with it. She made a great presentation to us in Detroit. And everyone at Chevy has really enjoyed working with Katie on this commercial. We commend all of the students on their creative ideas, and thank them for participating,” said Kosak.
Chevy continued to engage students throughout the process, posting interviews with students about the ad challenge, supplemental materials from students and other information on the www.chevycollegead.com website. In January, www.cbs.com/chevy started running reality webisodes about the five finalist teams, and CBS The Early Show showed video mockups for a number of ad concepts that were submitted. Katie was named as the winner during CBS’ “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2007” on Friday, February 2, 2007.
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