THE AUTOEXTREMIST - RANTS
ACURA TAKES AIM AT THE "ENLIGHTENED" - AND LEAVES EVERYONE ELSE SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS.
TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013 AT 08:10AM

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013 AT 08:10AM
By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. The story of Acura should be all too familiar by now. What once held promise as the jewel division of Honda - with cars encompassing the very best that the company could muster - has been reduced of late to offering cars with all the appeal of a parts bin exercise featuring off-the-shelf technology wrapped in a design language with all the subtlety and allure of shiny anvils.

The Honda brain trust has a long list of problems and issues that they can blame Acura's current predicament on - tough competition, changing consumer tastes, etc. - but they only have to look themselves in the mirror to discover what really went wrong, because when all is said and done Honda operatives simply lost focus and forgot what Acura was supposed to be.

It's hard to believe that at one point Acura had the NSX sports car as its halo star car and a product lineup that seemed to have a little extra Honda oomph that translated nicely to happy consumers in the marketplace. Higher-revving engines, crisper steering, more sophisticated suspension systems, for a very brief, fleeting moment in time Acura had it goin' on, as they say.

And then Honda lost its way. In other words, they flat-out blew it. Distinctive Acura products were homogenized and cheapened, the NSX was put to sleep, and marketing honchos were forced to resort to a perpetual smoke-and-mirrors charade while trying to convince ever more vigilant and savvy consumers that Acura was indeed still worthy. It not only didn't work, it hasn't worked for a long, long time*, which is why Honda is now so desperate to get Acura back on track and on the same consideration list with Audi, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. (*A note here: Some people will point to Acura sales figures and insist that they're fine. If you put your sales volume glasses on you might see things that way. But the True Believers within Honda - the few who are left anyway - realize that the Acura image is nondescript, confused and forgettable. And in this day and age, that means you're walking, talking toast.)

Oh, if it were that easy.

Because the last time I checked almost every manufacturer that isn't Audi, BMW, Lexus or Mercedes-Benz wants to be just like them. Do you think Hyundai wants to play the role of perpetual "pretty good" Korean brand forever? No. Does Cadillac want to be pigeonholed as the American luxury brand that has a few notable offerings to consider, but not much else beyond that? No, of course not. Manufacturers are lined up to get a piece of the action. They want more. And they're just confident and arrogant enough - in some cases for no apparent reason - to believe that they can get there too.

And now, it's Acura's turn. Honda and Acura operatives are pumping themselves up for the Big Bang. They are finally taking the gloves off (in their minds) and they're giving Acura all the tools it needs to be a player in the luxury game, or at least that's what they want us to believe. How are they so sure of it? Well, for one thing a new NSX is coming in 2015, so we are supposed to believe that the return of that car alone gives Acura instant credibility in The Game. And it would be all good if it worked out that way, but this business tends to be full of unfortunate surprises.

Even though all indications are that the new NSX holds much promise, the question is will it be an isolated machine that exists in a vacuum of its own making? Or will it set the tone for the entire Acura brand? When I see what's going on with Acura right now, I tend to think the former. Acura appears to be a mishmash of fancy lighting and technology for technology's sake, and frankly, unless and until they can do a proper large sedan worth talking about - which they've been mind-numbingly unsuccessful at since Day One - they will get nowhere near the aforementioned key players in this market.

Let's return to that confident and arrogant enough for no apparent reason premise. Next week Acura marketers are debuting an all-new advertising push in conjunction with the launch of its new MDX crossover. It will be the biggest launch in the brand's history in terms of money spent, akin to a Hail Mary pass for the Japanese automaker. And the launch will revolve around the theme line, "Made for mankind."

Now, let me be the first to say that this isn't the first advertising campaign that's so totally self-absorbed that it leaves you breathless with your mouth agape. (Remember the captive audience in the famous "1984" spot for Apple? Like that.) And it certainly won't be the last. But, really? This new Acura spot hits it out of the park when it comes to self-absorption. How bad is it? To the degree that when watching it you will want to go find the nearest hammer and put yourself out of your misery with one well-placed blow. That bad. (You can watch it here.)

I'll spare you the gory details and the rationales, but Mark Rechtin from Automotive News managed to get a quote from the executive creative director at Mullen's L.A.-based ad agency responsible for the work - and who shall remain nameless here - who actually said: "I suppose maybe some of the things we're doing seem far-out, but it's really based very much on a pretty simple idea. This core belief Acura's had from the beginning about bringing together man and machine, creating a synergy and the belief that no automobile is really doing its job if it's not making the most out of mankind."

He went on to say, according to Rechtin, that Acura and Mullen were taking aim at consumers they call "the enlightened" - tech-savvy risk-takers who play by their own rules, such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Oh, joy.

Let me get this straight - Acura, the brand that has been in a perpetual struggle for credibility while aspiring to a higher level, is now going to aim its entire raison d'etre at "the enlightened"?

How perfect is that?

Listen, I'm all for high-concept advertising, because when it works it's memorable and inspiring.

But when it doesn't it leaves a trail of confusion, head scratching and yes, even bitterness in its wake that is very difficult to overcome.

This is Acura's moonshot, so to speak. I get that. It's nice to have goals and believe that you can do whatever you want, in a Stuart Smalley sort of way.

But they aimed for the moon and crashed somewhere west of Laramie.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.