Commercials for car service have always promise impeccable service. We’ve watched them and sighed. BarkleyOKRP and Midas have taken the honest approach. The auto care industry has a history of bad service.
The old trope of a woman (or a man) staring confusedly while an auto mechanic explains a car issue is the inspiration behind the new campaign that wins attention with both its humour and its relatable idea.
Don’t Put Up With B.S. (Bad Service) addresses the auto care pain points we all know and hate with data, humour and a commitment to incite real change in the auto care industry.
The advertising initiative follows research among 2,000 men and women across North America conducted by BarkelyOKRP that reveals deep concerns about the honesty and integrity of auto care services. This includes:
- Women are 2x more likely than men to feel intimidated during car care visits
- They are 2x more likely than men to be concerned about being taken advantage of
- Once they’ve had a negative experience, the damage is lasting, as 43% of women admit to feeling the need to bring a companion along to avoid potential exploitation.
As one woman surveyed said, “I took my car for an oil change expecting to pay no more than $50 and left paying $400! I think they took advantage of me for being a woman and not understanding cars. They ‘up sold’ me on filters and other things.”
While women have it the worst, the research showed that auto care is often not a pleasant experience in general:
- Half of participants said they have experienced bad service in auto repair shops
- 90% of people feel they have been overcharged
- ⅔ say they have been mistreated in an auto care shop at least once by being pushed into unneeded services, being ripped off or pressured
“When women told us that auto-care mechanics rolled their eyes at them or made them feel like they didn’t know anything about their vehicles, we knew that the Midas difference was worth celebrating,” stated Phoebe Hennessy, VP of marketing at Midas. “The insights we uncovered about real consumer pain points gave us the opportunity to showcase the Midas difference and our focus on great service.”
The campaign introduces Carsplaining Carl and Just Wait Walter’ auto mechanics who say things like “You know your car needs oil to run right?” These bad-service characters are no match for the self-assured customers who understand that they have the power to say “no” to bad service.
“Every car owner has experienced that moment when they feel they are at the mercy of an auto-care expert who they know is not treating them right,” says Katy Hornaday, chief creative officer at BarkleyOKRP. “This fuelled the ethos of the Don’t Put Up With B.S. campaign and inspired our combined mission to make a big difference in the auto care industry.”
“This campaign speaks to our mission as a company to provide good service to all our customers in the way we take care of their cars and in how we take care of them,” Hennessy added. “This means total transparency in letting them know up front what needs fixing and what can wait. And we promise all customers to help them make a plan without the upsell.”
The full campaign is running nationally in the US across TV, OOH, social, and digital channels. A series of commercials will be streamed on Peacock, NBCU, Hulu, and more, as well as airing across Olympics programming. Out-of-home boards will run in Austin, Chicago, Boston, San Antonio, Miami, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary.
