AA - You’ve Got A Friend | TV's Worst Adverts

AA - You’ve Got A Friend

22 July 2007 by Silky

Retro is the current Zeitgeist in the AA advertising department. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the evidence.

In one of their insurance adverts they references the classic line:

“He’s a nice man. He’s a very nice man. He’s a very, very nice man.”

Despite the painful depiction of the 2 ageing hippies, the AA have scored good bonus points with me for the reference.

For their breakdown service, however the AA have looked to other classic adverts for inspiration:

Whenever I see this advert onto the TV, I can’t help but picture myself on a hill top out side Rome with the New Seekers playing in my ears:

“I’d like to teach the World to sing… in perfect harmony…”

Yes, the whole concept of the latest AA advert - a giant chorus of people, all singing an uplifting song - couldn’t be much more of a rip off of the Coke advert.

Except I don’t think the AA have quite done it right. “You’ve Got a Friend” is a toe-curling, catcall of a song. It doesn’t fill me with joy and wonder like the Coke advert did. I’m hoping that it dies a sudden death like the “The 4th Emergency Service” tag line did.

Then there’s the people singing it - AA Breakdown men. I’m guessing that AA Breakdown men are pretty high on the list of “people you’d never really be friends with” (top of that list are “losers who write blogs about TV adverts” obviously).

Finally, when a *friend* charges you up to Â£180 to be a *friend*, I don’t think you can strictly call them a *friend*. It’s not as if you can call them up whenever you do need a friend:

“Hello, AA? Yeah, I’m having a hard time at work at the moment and I think my girlfriend is cheating on me. I don’t suppose you fancy a pint and a chat, do you?”

“Er, has your car broken down?”

“No.”

“Well call back when it does. Until then you’re on your own.”

So maybe they could rewrite the song a little to:

“Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall (those are the four Direct Debit periods),
All you’ve got to do is call (obviously only if your car has broken down),
and I’ll be there, yes I will (in up to an hour from the time you made your first phone call),
You’ve got a friend(ly breakdown service for which you pay handsomely).”

Maybe that’s the next advert…

7Responses:

PCWB

July 22nd, 2007 9:11 pm

Its not just the concept of the advert that pisses me off here. It’s also that the song is sung with each line coming in half a beat too early so that it fits into 30s.
Steve

August 3rd, 2007 12:52 am

The use of ‘fall’ instead of ‘autumn’ irritates me with this one, apart from the general cheesiness. Obviously, ‘fall’ was chosen as it rhymed with ‘call’, but was another idea beyond the imagination of the ad agency’s creative persons? Apparently so. And giving ‘friends’ a wad of tenners sounds like the kind of transaction which put Divine Brown on the front pages.
Bossjock

September 12th, 2007 5:26 pm

A load of crap from start to finish but possibly helps explain why members as a seeming matter of course have a 2Hr plus wait , is it to give all these guys time to congregate before coming to you ?. Another thing, there are more ‘patrols’ in the Advert than the AA has in rural Britain since over the years and from when members sold out to Centrica, they’ve done away with the majority of their rural based patrols, sending them out to attend members from the towns and cities. Give me a good glossy and honest RAC advert anytime.
Tom

September 13th, 2007 7:24 am

Fair comments, Im not so sure on the advert but the AA are the market leaders with only them and the RAC having branded Patrol forces.. I would pick them or RAC over any other as I would prefer to have my car fixed if possible rather than being towed on a recovery truck for what my garage says was a simple fault. You pay that bit extra you get that bit extra
Simon

November 25th, 2007 11:18 pm

Steve : “Fall” was chosen because they are the lyrics in the original song (Carole King, Tapestry, 1971).

However, as mentioned, this advert is annoying as it completely bastardises the song. They’ve paid for the song rights, they’ve paid to have it re-written and re-recorded, but they couldn’t pay to have an adequate arrangement done. I don’t use the AA, but I’m guessing that “not quite” is a phrase normally associated with them.

While I think about it; their campaign a few years ago for finance deals : “you wouldn’t let a bank look over your next car purchase” (or something similar) was flawed. Maybe I wouldn’t, no, but I wouldn’t let a bunch of greasy mechanics sort my finances out. Or tell me what hotels are good to stay in. Know your okace, AA.
shugshooter

February 27th, 2008 11:24 pm

Hold on a sec here!

Your car has broken down in the middle of no-where!
Rotten luck you think! then you remember that predent your mum got you last year!!
Your AA membership!
Bonus!!

3 hours and 4 phonecalls later…

45 fluorescent clad AA greasemonkeys come over the hill with nothing but torches and a song in thier hearts.

not a tool box umong them!!

cockmiesters
Fiona Black

February 28th, 2008 7:55 am

Friend my arse! if they were really my friend they would come and get me when Ive broken down and do it for FREE.