It really takes a lot for an ad during the Super Bowl to make me do a double take. But that’s exactly what I did when the spot for a local used car dealer came on. For one thing, it LOOKED like a local ad…but it featured a cameo from Tiger King Joe Exotic.

I actually rewound my DVR to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Sure enough, I confirmed that it actually was Joe Exotic…or so I THOUGHT.

It wasn’t actual the Tiger King. It was a celebrity look-alike. But this look-alike really, really NAILED it.

Turns out it WAS a local ad but it WASN’T actually Joe Exotic. Have a look yourself:

As you may have heard, thirty second Super Bowl ads were going for $5.5 million. But, the local affiliates (this year in El Paso it was KDBC) have a few slots that they are able to sell to local clients.

The faux Tiger King appeared in an ad for Rightdrive Auto, a used car dealership that is new to El Paso. I tried to confirm whether they are part of a national chain. As near as I can tell, they are only in El Paso but they have multiple locations.

In addition to being mistaken about Joe Exotic, further viewing of the ad shows that the tiger shown in the spot is computer generated.  Even so, the ad was done professionally enough that they had me fooled upon seeing it. I actually came to work this morning believing that some local advertiser had somehow gotten the real Tiger King out of prison long enough to shoot a commercial.

So, Rightdrive managed to do all the things you want to do with a Super Bowl commercial. They cut through the clutter, grabbed my attention AND they’ve got me talking about it the next day. So, nice job, Rightdrive Auto! Now…has anyone been over to talk to you about radio?

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