There's an old adage that "sex sells" and we have an opportunity to witness this put to the test. Both Coda Automotive and Fisker are running advertising campaigns for their respective cars right now, but they are taking very different approaches.
Fisker's commercial (posted on Aug. 20) for their Karma PHEV is an outright sex story line. A beautiful young woman, sultry singing in the background, charging cords being suggestively plugged into charging ports, and a sleek curvy car pulling donuts in a wet parking lot. Tag line: "Designed to get you hot, not the planet."
Coda, on the other hand, has installed epitaph-tombstone-themed signs on gasoline pumps. The gasoline pump lived from circa 1885 to 2010, and could once be found on the corner of every major intersection in the country. Or so the epitaph begins, which went on to describe the Great Realization which swept across America that 80% of the energy pumped into a gasoline vehicle is wasted by the horribly inefficient engine.
While one appreciates Coda's attitude, and one appreciates the "End Dependence Day" T-shirts they handed out at an event a few months ago, one wonders which of these companies is appealing to the correct sentiment.
See also:
Coda Automotive plans assembly in China of up to 20,000 electric sedans per year
First impressions of the Coda electric sedan
Fisker Automotive secures the Dept. of Energy loan, allowing them to reopen old GM plant in Delaware
The dance between Fisker, Think, Enerdel, and A123Systems
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