Fiat mocks eco-friendly owners in misguided attempt to woo them

There's some guy you may have heard of called David Ogilvy. He started a shop with the same name. He said this about target audiences: "The consumer is not a moron. She is your wife." In other words: Don't insult your audience's intelligence. Either by talking down to them, or mocking them.

Clearly we have lost our ways. You'd think St. Ogilvy's quote would have been drummed in our heads by now, but I guess not. How else to explain this annoyingly condescending campaign for Fiat?

This Environmentally Sexy website is so off base it's just sad. Seriously, I know you want to be self-deprectaing but you've taken two stock photo couples (Sophia and Ryan, and Kimberly and Fabrizio) and created some weirdo fictitious world in which only the most self-obssessed, shallow and annoying characters represent your consumers.

Fiat 500 E - Ryan's story

Fiat, did you not ever hear of the backlash that came from Toyota's Prius C campaign? The people who buy cars like this do not like this kind of stuff. At. All. And why would they? It's not who they are.

We drive Fiat and we love Fiat because it's a fun, sexy Italian car. We drive EV's because we care about the environment. This combo does not give you license to paint people as being shallow, stupid, or stereotypically green in the most elitist kind of way.

Unlike this:

Fiat 500 e - Looks and so much more

Your ads are suggesting that your target has no depth and only cares about the environment because it's economically convenient and because they'll "get some," from their equally shallow partners if they care. Really?

More importantly, your microsite requires me to give you my data by signing in via Facebook, like it was 2009. I ain't doing it. Period.

Full disclosure: I love this car and this brand. Always have. And Dabitch is in the same boat. So heres the thing, Fiat: Fire your agency. Reach out to us. We will be more than happy to create a campaign that is more respectful of your audience. We are your audience. We deserve better. And so do you*.

Your friends at Adland.

* By "better," we don't mean "J-lo."

src="adland.tv/iat-500e-ryans-story-2013">Fiat 500 E - Ryan's story

Fiat, did you not ever hear of the backlash that came from Toyota's Prius C campaign? The people who buy cars like this do not like this kind of stuff. At. All. And why would they? It's not who they are.

We drive Fiat and we love Fiat because it's a fun, sexy Italian car. We drive EV's because we care about the environment. This combo does not give you license to paint people as being shallow, stupid, or stereotypically green in the most elitist kind of way.

Unlike this:

Fiat 500 e - Looks and so much more

Your ads are suggesting that your target has no depth and only cares about the environment because it's economically convenient and because they'll "get some," from their equally shallow partners if they care. Really?

More importantly, your microsite requires me to give you my data by signing in via Facebook, like it was 2009. I ain't doing it. Period.

Full disclosure: I love this car and this brand. Always have. And Dabitch is in the same boat. So heres the thing, Fiat: Fire your agency. Reach out to us. We will be more than happy to create a campaign that is more respectful of your audience. We are your audience. We deserve better. And so do you*.

Your friends at Adland.

* By "better," we don't mean "J-lo."