Buick Testing the Waters with African-Americans

issac hayes? common if gm wants to sell their buicks to Gs they need to give one to jay-z, sean combs, nelly, snoop dog, and 50-cent. then let them each have their way with the car and feature each one as possible pimpable options. this is the only way to get mass appeal to the black community.

youre an idiot

The above comment should be removed for obvious reasons.

The parent post is garbage. If Buick is going to target the African American consumer, then they will target those African Americans that fall within their core demographic, which is NOT the late teens to late twenties crowd who are influenced by the artists you mention. They will target middle to upper middle class African Americans, who can afford their product and I'm sorry to dissapoint you, but they are not influenced by 50 cent or even a P Diddy, they will be a much more mature audience, hence Isaac Hayes. So, please take the entire African American community out of your single, simplistic, simple-minded, one-szie-fits-all basket and realize that we are all individuals, and the only color that really matters is green. Please do some research and post a more informed comment next time.........


Stone

06 Nissan Armada SE 4x4
04 BMW 745 Li

Good points Stone.

Bigslick, you should really expand your thoughts beyond what you see on television and read in the news.

Excuse me, "late teen early twenty demographic that is influenced by the artists you mention". I happen to be a young black male who is NOT influenced by those sources.

It only takes a bunch of ignorant whites to start making blatant generalizations and classifications.

BigSlick is simply proposing that Buick do what Pepsi, HP, Frito-Lay and other major marketers have done, which is, hire the African-American youth movement. His comment about "pimping" may have gone overboard, but it's a fact that people of every race tend to be attracted to younger people and ideas. Issac Hayes is a bit old-school and will probably just reinforcee the old-school image of Buick. It's a conservative choice by a conservative brand and not likely to move the needle, since you generally have to go young with marketing to make people notice you.

what the hell is wrong with that comment. dont play the freaken race card as that was obviously NOT racist!
buick needs to make their vehicles more customizable in the areas that african-americans find more appealing overall. what the frick is so wrong with that? gm is the one who is catering their cars to a "certian" color or ethnicity you stupid pricks. in my mind thats racism in itself. dont point your "do-gooder" finger at me asshole. celebrities recieving cars for free to promote them in certain age groups/ethnisities is not new morons. its been around since pop culture so get used to it. so go cry to your fat moms as this is not the place.

bigslick83, Well said, bro! Keep on truckin!

ZOMG ALT+F4 ALT+F4!!!!
i almost had a relapse when you "kind of agree"d with me!

Buick has been "that Cadillac pretender" for I don't know how long now, and their glory days were over in the '70s at the latest.

But they already gave Tiger Woods a Buick Renier. You've got to pity the guy.

I'm sure he has a Range Rover or something on the side, though.

I was in China this year, and I have never seen so many Buicks and Volkswagens in my life. Buick makes a solid value priced vehicle. Will.......get off your Toyota high horse and remember hundreds of thousands of AMERICANS work for the big three and they wouldn't appreciate your snotty sarcastic attitude.

Hundred's of Thousands of Americans work for the big three. Not for long, atleast Toyota isn't shutting down their factories and moving off shore. Toyota will build two more plants in the US. I wonder if these people who will get fired appreciate what the big three are doing to them???

Listen bonehead, most Toyotas, Hondas and Nissan or Subarus sold in the U.S. are built by Americans, so do your research and gain some knowledge before you think you can just bust door door down with your little cocky attitude, punk!

you are very correct many of the Asian brands are built here in the U.S......where do you think the vast majority of these profits go??? TOKYO...the surviving American companies will thrive with or without your support...Ford/GM will merge in the next five years..Must have hit a nerve with you ricefans!!

I'm BLACK! I HATE BUICKS... only my granma and my grandpa love buick! THATS RACIST! They should have a marketing campaign in Saraosota Florida... because OLD people like Buicks!

When BLACK people like myself look to buy a new car... we dont refer to Buick as being the best!

THIS IS BIAS INFORMATION!

Buick won't last too long anyhow..it dun't matter yall!

I am also black. I don't support car manufacturers catering to a certain race. That is very ignorant to me. If Buick was catering to only white people or asians, black people would be the first to boycott and sue buick for racial discrimination. I feel that there is also a stereotype of big cars with 26" chrome wheels and tv's in the headrest as something that black people enjoy and will purchase. While stereotypes are true to some extent. I still feel it is ignorant for a car company to target a certain race.

I completely agree. This is one of the main reasons I detest Lexus so much--they actively seek out and cater to whites, while carefully trying to hide the fact that the company is Japanese.

I do however feel that while different American ethnicities may be drawn to a particular car or brand, it is not smart to actively seek out that race in marketing efforts because you risk alienating potential clientele.

Heh, I guess they are hoping to gain the acclaim (similar to the Escalade) of the urban community. As a person of color I have no issues with it. The new Lucerne is a decent car.

I guess what AUDIMAN4 was trying to say, Will, was that Lexus tries to disguise its Japanese roots.

You know, so they seem like an American company or something.

huh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disguise what?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Make it seem like an American company?!!!!!!!!

Kindly STFU, please. If Lexus is going to sell a car for over 300 million American folks or over 1.3 Billion Chinese..you better start doing homework and design a car fitting these folks.

Think about for a moment. Would you try selling a Wendy's 4 as in Four stacked beef patty Hamburger to a Chinese or a Japanese market? Gigantic American styled hamburgers to an asian market doesn't work. That is why, when I travel overseas..I observe menu proportion from Great American restaurant ie McDonalds, Kentucky fried chicken etc..portions are like 1/3 of what we get here! American restaraunt business like McDonalds is where all German business dunces need to get their ideas to how to properly cater to certain groups of racial or national ethenicity. Black brothers' love fried chickens and watermelon so simply removing these food from the menu book for brothers b/c you felt its offensive is about the most idiotical crap If I ever heard of one as ridiculous as this.

Posted by AUDIMAN4:
"I happen to be a young black male who is NOT influenced by those sources"

You are not influenced by the definition of demographic either LMAO, you should look it up as a by definition, a demographic is not required to include EVERY single soul between its stated boundaries. The only thing your posts prove is that Blacks can be just as racist as anyone else for example:

"This is one of the main reasons I detest Lexus so much--they actively seek out and cater to whites, while carefully trying to hide the fact that the company is Japanese."

You CANNOT be serious.........

oh and FYI:

I am a member of the North Carolina A&T State University class of 1992. The greatest historically Black college ever. Now I am going to let you know BRO, you just like the parent post has lumped everyone you disagree with into that same simple-minded racist basket.

Aggie Pride!!!!

Stone

06 Nissan Armada SE 4x4
04 BMW 745 Li

What is AA? Anglo Americans?

I WENT TO A&T STATE UNIVERSITY! I attended in 2002! I'm originally from the Raleigh/Durham Area. How ironic!!! I live in Chicago now.....

SpeedRacer stated - "Through personal experience i think AA or Blacks are the most rascist people on this planet.They only get away with a lot of remarks they make because of the slave history bargaining chip AA always bring up
Every single race was enslaved by some other race in a certain time in history,GET OVER IT and learn to laugh."


This statement is said by someone who has no education about the history of black people. We are the most oppressed race in the country because of things that happened with us in the past. You need to understand that slavery was just 2 or 3 generations ago. Its not something that you can just "get over". Please stop being so insensitive to other races, although I assume you're white by the comment you just said, I hear alot of white people saying the same thing you said. But because you're priviliged in certain areas doesn't mean that other minorities would say "oh, white people get everything they want and get away with almost murder when they do something to a black person" thats an ignorant comment such as your "smart remark", incredibly uneducated about what you think you know. You might not care about our history but comments such as those, you need to keep to yourself. You're not the only race or person that looks at this website because of your infatuation with cars...

I TRANSFERED TO STATE AFTER I LEFT A&T!! This is a small world!!! I transfered again to a school that had my major (musical theater- conenctration in music) Columbia College Chicago.

Speedracer's comments:

"Through personal experience i think AA or Blacks are the most rascist people on this planet.They only get away with a lot of remarks they make because of the slave history bargaining chip AA always bring up
Every single race was enslaved by some other race in a certain time in history,GET OVER IT and learn to laugh."

It is hard to get over something when you currently live in a racist society that has been created from past history. It might be hard for you to understand but racism is quite systemic in the USA...where its evil roots started in the fouding of this nation.

This whole Thread should be deleted.... i just think its funny how any car company or any company for that matter can try and target any audience, whether by race, age, gender, etc...
In todays society, it can't be done. Why? because if you 'target' a group, you are stereotyping...period..
Plus, each nationallity takes something from another. I am black, drive a Pontiac and a Tundra, listen to Rock & Roll, Blues, Classical, and Rap. live in a middle class suburbs which the "community" is mixed with so many different ethnicities, I don't even know or care what people are..
Now, Buick, try and target you vehilce to me ..... Bet you will be way off the mark...

SpeedRacer

You might notice that from your own personal experience but I would challenge that you have not sampled a sufficiently large portion of the African American community to make such an off-base statement. Through my own personal experience as a Black man, there are a great many peoples of many races with a much more racist attitude towards people who are different. In addition, they manifest their hatred with a great deal more violence; just have a look at the Middle East right now if you watch the news. Also referring to the enslavement of an entire race of people as a bargaining chip is asinine, and shows a complete lack of sensitivity to the issue, I don't really expect you to understand that. The majority of African Americans could care less about gaining anything from the dark history of slavery in this country, and reparations (that’s always next), honestly, is a non-issue to most people of color that I know low, middle, or upper class. If the US gov’t goes so far as to offer me money because of the prosperity that this country experienced due to slave labor, then you can bet your Klan robe that I will take it. It will only help me reach my lofty financial goals that much faster and who couldn’t use and extra 40 acres of land and a nice mule LMAO. Again, stop lumping everyone into the same basket, it is just plain ignorant regardless of the color of your skin. The funny thing is, I only hear the words “race card” when someone can’t hold up their end of a debate. No wonder we are quickly becoming the dumbest superpower in the history of the world……


Sigh


Stone

06 Nissan Armada SE 4x4
04 BMW 745 Li

okay i say put 50-cent in a raineer and let him pimp it out and i get the freakin book thrown at me. but here speedracer says something along the lines as "AA"'s can only afford 99 cent cars and you give him a verbal, well writtin, slap on the wrists. i mean common. I just mentioned this because everyone (not just one race) will see how much you can do to a buick or how far you can take it to the extreme. this happens all the time when artists customize their vehicles and then the manf shows it off like "you think you know what a buick is untill you see p diddy's" this can influence again all races and all ages.

this also has a band wagon effect FOR THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS that says jay-z has a centry maybe i should get one because a used one is only like $75.

and i sell cars all day and to all races. and yes i silently pre-qualify based on race,gender,age,and dress on which customers get the most attention. its what smart sales people do. we handle special financing that most dealerships in the area dont, because its a very rich area, so we get all walks of life and those people are hot because they cant go right down the street and buy a car, so you kind of have them right where you want them. i dont think thats racist/sexist/or discriminatory, its common practice. other than that, i think we all agree buick does need to do something to not go extinct.

I'm sick and tired of this crap! Everyone wants to be BLACK!

I see Shri-Lankan's, and whites... walking around the stree with their pants below their waste trying to act all cool. Who do they want to be like? BLACK PEOPLE!

So I have come to the conclusion that everybody stereotypes my race and then all of a sudden want to be my race! Oh boy o' boy, what a bunch of hipocrytes!

Wearing your pants below your waistline does not have anything to do with being black. It has everything to do with being in prison/jail and not having a belt to hold your pants up. They supplied pants that were too big and didn't have belts which is why you had people wearing pants below the waste. Now the prisons and jails have the one outfit body suits that takes care of that.

Marketing like this is nothing new, just look at the magazines and you can tell which ones are marketed towards black and white people.

Let’s kill the racial discussion all together; it’s obvious that some are not equipped to discuss the issue of race like adults in a civilized manner. As far as Buick is concerned, I would say this is too little, too late. They have lost a large percentage of their base to admittedly better automakers or at least automakers who know how to make vehicles that appeal to their target demographic. It’s called survival of the fittest and its how the auto industry and capitalism in general should work. It forces everyone who wants to be competitive to constantly raise the bar and the real winners are the consumers. IMO, Buick and rest of the US automakers took the American consumer for granted for far too long. I simply cannot believe it has taken this long for GM, Ford, and even Cadillac to put interiors in their cars that are comparable and in some cases better than their import competitors. My parents were both extremely loyal, "buy American" consumers but once parts started constantly breaking on brand new cars after very little use, finally they said enough is enough, they spoke with their wallets and now they are loyal Lexus buyers. I am very happy for them as they have enjoyed excellent reliability and resale value on their purchases and the general manager at their local Lexus dealer could care less that they are African American, they know that either the check will clear or that obtaining financing will simply not be an issue and THAT is what all automakers want. I can understand Buick going after the middle/upper class African American consumer as we are a virtually untapped market segment with tremendous buying power, putting someone that looks like me in a Buick commercial is not a bad move from a marketing perspective, but seeing Isaac Hayes in a Buick on TV is not going to change the perception of Buick, at least in my eyes.


I do find it funny, however, that Blacks are the most hated, and at the same time most often imitated race of people ever to walk the earth.


Stone

06 Nissan Armada SE 4x4
04 BMW 745 Li

IS3andME,

Oh man, Morgan State!!! Now that brings back some memories, I won't even start talking about the AKAs in Blount Towers. Y'all spanked us 32 – 0 this year and last week, Bethune-Cookman beat us like, well a bunch of slaves 70 - 7 (how appropriate for this thread) LOL our football team sucks beyond belief. Good to see people reppin HBCUs online and your post is absolutely on point; we definitely have a long way to go in this country. You would think by some of these posts, these ppl believe everything they see on MTV and BET (oops, same thing) and that the image these entertainers desperately want to project is indicative of real life. I guess they don’t know who bought the greatest percentage of the almost 20 million records 50 Cent has sold in the US.

Oh, and BTW, you know which HBCU has Engineering on lock. Aggie Pride baby!!!!


Stone

06 Nissan Armada SE 4x4
04 BMW 745 Li

It makes me very happy to see a number of black "brothas" posting on this website!

But the sad reality is that race is still a major issue in this country, especially in the south. One time, a white man thought I was stealing my own car.

Also, when my family moved into our all white neighborhood, people used to walk by and stare. It makes me very sad that America is such a race conscious, oppressive place that places so much emphasis on race.

Yes, A&T has the best Engineering program in the country, and the ladies are as fine as ever. But thats all A&T has is its engineering program. When I attended in '02 I double majored in Classical Piano and Vocal performance, I should have attended UNCG instead but ultimately ended up transfering to Columbia College here in Chicago, better school for my needs. Although once an Aggie, always an Aggie!!!! Ironically both my parents went to NCCU and my dad went to Duke for graduate studies (Physical Therapy). We now have a split house of fam who adores UNC Basketball team and Duke basketball team. It gets pretty intense!!!!! I heard they stopped the Aggie-Eagle classic. Is that true?

brianlamar,

Yep, they canceled the classic, although alumni on both sides want it back, me included. All we have left is the A&T vs South Carolina State game in Charlotte every year. Oh, and the ladies are falling off just a little bit, looks like the last few classes of freshman have been eating too many twinkies lol. UNCG on the other hand, has made a power move when it comes to the ladies. You left A&T in 02, you guys had it good. The campus looks great now but all the old heads are still mad that they knocked down Scott Hall. All of the bullet holes are gone, and thats a piece of history that should not be forgotten. When I went to A&T, we had no A/C, no phones, internet, no nothing but we did have Aggie fest...Hah young bucks!!!!

Stone

06 Nissan Armada SE 4x4
04 BMW 745 Li

I remember those good old days. I miss A&T. My cousin just graduated from there, (he made his undergrad stay a career, 6 years!!!) He crossed over number 7 Omegi Psi Phi in '02. I remember my parents talking about having no phone and A/C, that was not happening to me!! I stayed in the overated Aggie Suites which probably looks horrible now considering the damage we did when I was there 4 years ago. I think we were the first to stay in the new suites.

They knocked down the Scott Hall but didn't they rebuild it? E-mail me lamar.brian@gmail.com, we're really off subject!!!

Sorry guys we're just reminiscing..... :-)

How different is it for an automaker to target an audience based on race as it does for gender, age, and location?

Answer = no difference (so stop whining)

Buick (GM) is in the business of selling cars - if they want to attempt to gain market share by making a 54 year old african american actor/singer/songwriter their poster-boy - so be it. All the power to 'em.

Will this marketing campaign achieve success in boosting sales to the african american community - who know's and who cares?

GM's Oldsmobile died in 2004 and I'd say Buick has a couple years left before they get snuffed out.