Pursuits
GM Airs Attack Ads That Poke Holes in Ford’s Aluminum Pickups
- Chevy trucks’ steel beds only scratched, dented by impacts
- Biggest U.S. automaker denies critiquing rival with spots
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The Chevrolet versus Ford rivalry just got nastier. General Motors Co. launched a series of ads showing field tests in which the steel Chevy Silverado pickup holds up better under heavy workloads than Ford Motor Co.’s aluminum-bodied model.
Chevy’s ads show the bed of the Ford F-150 cracking when heavy or sharp objects are dropped into it, while the Silverado ends up with just a few dents, scratches and, in one case, pinholes. In one video, a Chevy engineer drops a large toolbox into the bed of each truck at such an angle that it dents in the Silverado and puts a hole in the bed of the Ford. The campaign is big, too, airing online, on television during major sporting events and at 2,400 movie theaters nationwide.