Unless you’re in the advertising industry you’ve probably never heard of Hal Riney. But if you watched television during the 1980’s and 1990’s you know his work. He is the creative guy behind the Saturn car campaign (remember the Saturn “family reunion” in 1994?), the 1984 Ronald Reagan reelection ads (remember “It’s morning again, America”?), and Bartle & Jaymes wine coolers (remember “and we thank you for your support”?)
While advertising is 100% subjective, it does tie into flow and flow blockages. Advertisers can’t make you buy something you really don’t want, but they can get you to override flow and logic.
Take Saturn. Riney’s campaign for Saturn made the company seem like baseball and apple pie, and that it was the car every loyal American should buy since they were made in Tennessee. So people rushed out to buy them thinking they were buying a great American product that would keep Americans employed.
Fast forward a few years. Any automotive expert today will tell you Saturns were poorly designed and built, and were ultimately unreliable (a friend of mine spent $1,600 on simple repairs one time). In fact, a mechanic I spoke with wouldn’t even work on used Saturns since he said it was putting good money after bad. Worse, Saturns had nothing special versus the foreign competition other than their no-haggle affordable pricing.
Now I’m not saying everyone who bought a Saturn had flow blockages, but other than the fixed pricing and friendly staff there really were no logical reasons to buy one. And ironically ALL the reasons people were buying Saturns (support America, inexpensive transportation, etc.) no longer applied to the Saturn brand prior to it being discontinued. Most Saturns were ultimately made in Europe, not Tennessee, and plastic door panels—a Saturn trademark—nowhere to be found.
Hal Riney knew all this about Saturn before he came up with his ideas, and he also knew he had to focus on a flow blockage approach rather than compare the car to superior competitors. Because Saturn’s target market—those looking for a reliable, well-built regular car—were not getting what they wanted.