And they're thinking the new Cinquecento can be the iPod of cars. They've even gone so far as to rip off our "Think Different" advertising style in their new ad for the car, with shots from "Cinema Paradiso" wrapped around pictures of famous Italians. Now look. I love Italian cars. I wouldn't buy them, but I love the way they look. The new Cinquecento, which appears at the end of the spot, is really a nice-looking small car. I wish Fiat well with this campaign. It's a lovely spot, and I could understand it even though I don't speak a word of Sicilian and I've never set foot in Tripoli. I just wish they were paying us a little bit for stealing our ideas. Oh well. Vaya con dios, as you guys would say. Much love to reader Mattia who sent us this link.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Fiat wants to be Apple
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58 comments:
Sheesh, it's a turd on wheels.
"Vaya con Dios" is a spanish expression, not italian ;-)
mmm, in my dictionary vaya con dios is spanish
oh, my....
tripoli is not in italy, actually.
my god.
Geography lessons FSJ?
=P
LOL
Emad =P
"Vaya con Dios" is spanish.
Tripoli is in Libya.
And the spot is in Italian not in Sicilian.
Nevertheless, much love from Italy.
FIAT
Found In A Trashcan
Fix It Again Tony
Fucking Italian Auto Technology
I didnt see Mussolini in that commercial anywhere
you folks are clueless. "Vaya con Dios" is a band from Belgium. FSJ's reference works here on a level way over your heads.
Presly OBanyon lost
Seeking Neapolitan gelato
Found a pirate Barber instead
Semper Ganeesh
Anon on the Camp Pendleton Ashram
Accept no homespun rayon
Hey Steve,
You can love Italian cars. Personally, I love Italian women. Virna Lisi comes to mind.
You could at least license Fiat to have an iPod connector to their stereo system as part of the package. Or slip some anti-UMG propaganda into the glove box of each one as it rolls off the assembly line.
By the way, have you seen the preliminary Barcelona performance figures yet? Wouldn't want to be a Xeon right now.
Many Good Ideas Here in Caledonia Today,
->AMD FanBoi
More details: S. Marchionne, Fiat's CEO, has said in an interview with a national newspaper ("La Stampa"):
«... Our competitors are complex, rigid, full of procedures: we hope they stay like that. We are becoming fast and facilitating like Apple. For the ad I've got the inspiration from the slogan: 'Think different'».
Question: How come you prefer Steve Jobs to Bill Gates? Marchionne's answer: «He is the underdog, the one that sees the world in a different way and understands there is room for those like him.
Apple is a set of values and of elegant and coherent things. (The) iPod (is) a system easy to use. I want Fiat to become the Apple of cars. And the 500 will be our iPod».
Mind you, my car is not a Fiat...
P.S.
The iRony is that Tripoli used to be Italian... under the Fascism.
Oh well...
*wishes the commentards would stop remarking about FSJ's geographical and linguistic "mistakes"*
C'mon Steve, Tripoli is in Asia near the island of Java!!! Their leader is Mumu Coffee.
Hmmm... I wonder if My Little Pony is behind all this.
15% of Fiat's stock is owned by Libya.
*wishes the FSJ would stop making geographical and linguistic "mistakes"*
shame on you people
Famous Italians??? Uhhh, there seems to be a gap in the montage of "Famous Italians" from, oh I'd guess about 1922 to 1943...and where's the picture of Vito Corleone?
Something you won't see in there, any famous Italian Generals...unless losing wars makes you famous...kind of like not seeing famous Irish Chefs in montage of famous Irish folks...only so many ways to stew a potato, I guess...
Tripoli is in Libya which was an Italian colony before WWII.
nah. keep on correcting, clueless commentards. you make it even funnier.
and anyway, the shores of tripoli are in mexico, next to the halls of montezuma.
Tripoli for the Portugesians!
Namaste!
"even though I don't speak a word of Sicilian and I've never set foot in Tripoli"
Oh for Christ's sake. Everybody knows Tripoli is in Mexico, not Italy. There's even a song that tells you how to get there: "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli..."
Obviously, Tripoli is on the Mexican Riviera.
1. actually it's not the first Italian ad to feature a bunch of famous people with voice-over spewing inspirational nonsense and the actual product shown at the end.
2. isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery? FIAT has gone (is still going?) through a very bad period and is starting to get a bad name even among Italians (I'm living in Italy btw). So naturally they want to reinvent themselves like our beloved leader has done with all things Mac. Unfortunately for them, FIAT ain't no Apple Inc.
3. I can't believe people still don't get it when you purposely mix up languages and countries.
I love Italian cars....but then, my brother in law is a Fiat mechanic...and that helps a lot!
Are the Halls of Montezuma next to the Baños of Montezuma's Revenge?
Not Geographically Challenged in Caledonia,
->AMD FanBoi
Please remember - FSJ is never wrong. If you ever think he is wrong about anything, the more certain it is that you will be made to look a fool.
Tripoli is also a city in Lebanon, which is where all the lesbians come from. Don't you guys know anything?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripoli,_Lebanon
What a bunch of geotards! FSJ clearly meant Barcelona which is in Italy just south of Bologna between Genoa and Salamis.
seams like americans don't get it. any serious critics about the stolen ideas is fine, but your ignorance against europe is just ... no words.
please keep in mind that there is - just across the atlantic ocean - a bunch of cultures with a total of 350.000.000 people. a lot of culture has been transfered to the american culture in the last centuries. so we could feel a bit like your neighbors, too. even before 9/11, everyone here knew that the twin towers were part of south manhattan and most of us know, that the your president resides in the white house in washington d.c.
if don't know about the different cultures - no problem, some of us don't know about their neighbors, too. but - please - if you write something which in general makes absolute good sense - don't f**k it up with your cultural indifference. europe is much more then the beginning of a mafia trilogy or the territory for a war movie.
come here and find it out - and as a side aspect, you'll also find much more evidence for your thesis, why FIATs history will not follow the Apple plot.
sorry for my bad english - greetings from a proud european.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/2951/americaul2.jpg
yes when I saw it I though of Apple's Think Different campaign, and they openly declared where they took the style
it's not about famous Italians though; it's about Italian recent history, they obviously aim to remind people they are part of it
I guess it makes no sense to foreigners (not for the language, but for the references, which apart from Cinema Paradiso, aren't really that much mainstream stuff); it's not seen from outside, sorry for the missing stereotypes ;-)
namaste to you all!
this is typical tripoli in Italy, speak sicilian, before even commenting on something try at least to know what you are talking about.
Viva Apple e Viva la Cinquecento.
\\I like the car, that's all
In Italy we speak Italian, not sicilian... "Vaya con Dios" is a spanish expression and Tripoli is not an Italian city... maybe you shoud return to school.
In my opinion it was a simple comparison between the the products.. a clear message to young people.
Wish all the best to your iphone too, wonder why they used picture of Florence, Tuscany in quite few presentations of this "revolutianary" phone.
Actully the design being reminiscant to the original Cinquecento is mainly aimed to take on the Mini in the European market. Overall the car is pretty interesting, standard 1.4L and 1.2L gasoline engines, and a 1.3L diesel, and around 100hp in the current top level configuration.
Though the Arbarth (Fiat's equivalent to AMG and Brabus) edition of the Cinquecento should be interesting, 1.6L engine with 150 to 200 hp (they sure are gonna be messing around with the turbo's on this one) in a car that weighs about 900-1000kg. Though, the main problem with FIAT is the build quality. If they don't show that the Cinquecento is a good car and well built, sales will slow by year's end.
Oh, and and in another interview with the head of the company, it's to be noted that FIAT is planning to sell the Cinquecento in the US, but only around 2010.
Spielberg told his iTern to speed dial me to get that iProduct in his movie. Instead his iTern got the call transferred to iTaly, someplace north of Albania. Spielberg thought that i owned that too so he told the Fiat CEO answering the phone to forget about the inappropriately hot teen Pocahontas thing and send over the iProduct for the film.
It seems the head of the company didn't know what he was talking about, so he said he was the CEO of Fiat and is like into Fiat. Spielberg thought he said iFat, so he told the Fiat dude to get the iFat out chop chop, hollywood can't wait.
Turns out win-win for both. Fiat sent Spielberg out the car after he made that little advert, and the Cinquecento is the head dyslexicon.
Peace out
Man, Steve, I'm sorry. It sucks when someone rips off your creative. Maybe you can commiserate with Louis Psihoyos, Christian Marclay, Postal Service, and Lugz.
You no a buy italian cars? You no bay a Ferrari? Maserati? Lamborghini? Oh my god...
FIAT:
Fabbrica = Factory
Italiana = Italian
Automobili = Cars
Torino = Turin
In Italy we speak italian, Sicilian is a dialect (or language) spocken in sicily wich is a region of italian republic (one of the 20, the biggest over landscape, the third on population after Lombardy and Piedmont)
If you wanna say "Vaya con dios" in italian you should say "Dio sia con te" but this isn't said by any italian since 1842 (or 1923, just to say that you're anachronistic) if you don't count priests and pedophils.
Tripoli is a city settled in Lybia.
Maybe you're taking about TRAPANI?
Well... FIAT is born in Turin wich is about 1000 kilometers north to Trapani...
There's a lot of confusion in you head Steve, lets try to clean it up a bit:
1- Tripoli is not too far from Sicily (an Italian region), but it's in Libya, north of Africa.
2- "Vaya con Dios" it's Castellano language, or Spanish if you prefer.
3- Yeah, in Italy everyone speak Sicilian like Don Vito Corleone, exactly like in US everyone ride a horse dressed like John Wayne ... same thing.
Respect for Apple, not for you.
The corrections have already been made several times in the preview posts, just to underline your level of culture.
In the spot you can't see Mussolini, but can you see the napalm victims in the Apple "Think different"?
There's nothing to argue about that, in both ads are shown things that make people proud, not ashamed.
Last thing: I don't thing the author of this ignorant pamphlet knows anything about italian history. Tripoli is just a name randomly picked in the big black hole which is his brain, not a sophisticated hidden referrence.
Italian cars are not only Fiat cars.
What about Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Lancia, Alfa Romeo?
Not to speak of bikes, never heard of Ducati?
All examples of bad engineering?
The RDF has to be exercised to keep it strong, and to excise the nonbelievers who refuse to give in to its power. Pedantards, let Steve reshape the world as it pleases him. It's beautiful in here.
Please name me a small efficient design car made in USA .... I've just seen coffins on wheels there !
ahh I've forget the ex Daewoo now Chevrolet !! great piece of design ! keep going making Iphones please ! and don't post blogs under fake name if u don't know geography
FIAT Group owns Italian car manufacters like Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
Take a look at the last models and tell me if they are bad:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo
I'm absolutely apalled. I've come to trust FSJ absolutely. To suddenly come face to face with the notion that there might be errors in his blog is, well, crushing.
I suppose I should just go get drunk now.
Vaya con dios is Italian? i just checked it out with some people who spikka da lingo. Franco, Marni and Petra all reckon it's Spanish.
Relax, amigos. It's satire. I think.
Saluti ai miei cari cugini italiani!
Prenda nota prego che FSJ non deve essere modo letterale dentro colto. Piuttosto, dovrebbe essere visto come un pastiche letterario o burlesque tanto come una versione moderna del berni ('bernesco'). Inoltre presento questi termini relativi: travestare, caricare, derisione, frasi matte. Penso che lo troviate più divertente osservato una volta da quella prospettiva.
Per me, lo vedo come l'inverso di un film di Monicelli perché questo autore comincia prendendo l'apparenza di un uomo ricco e famoso. Anche se offre alcune comprensioni allineare e desidera molto essere preso seriamente, inoltre espone i suoi propri pregiudizi e debolezze, facenti spesso uno sciocco di sè al nostro piacere.
Spero che questo contribuisca a correggere tutta la confusione. Scusi prego la mia povera stretta della vostra lingua. Come diciamo in America, 'quando a Roma, faccia come Fake Steve.' ;-)
Saluti ai miei cari cugini italiani!
Prenda nota prego che FSJ non deve essere modo letterale dentro colto. Piuttosto, dovrebbe essere visto come un pastiche letterario o burlesque tanto come una versione moderna del berni ('bernesco'). Inoltre presento questi termini relativi: travestare, caricare, derisione, frasi matte. Penso che lo troviate più divertente osservato una volta da quella prospettiva.
Per me, lo vedo come l'inverso di un film di Monicelli perché questo autore comincia prendendo l'apparenza di un uomo ricco e famoso. Anche se offre alcune comprensioni allineare e desidera molto essere preso seriamente, inoltre espone i suoi propri pregiudizi e debolezze, facenti spesso uno sciocco di sè al nostro piacere.
Spero che questo contribuisca a correggere tutta la confusione. Scusi prego la mia povera stretta della vostra lingua. Come diciamo in America, 'quando a Roma, faccia come Fake Steve.' ;-)
I went to Tripoli once. That's where the Pope lives. I really love Spanish culture. Much love.
Tripoli? Vaya con dios?
Ignorants and stupids are everywere.
Obviously FSJ is like Big Brother from the 1984 superbowl add. All those who believe that there is no such city as Tripoli, Italy where they speak Sicilian are clearly crazy. The only reality is Apple's reality. All of our comrades from across the sea clearly need to practice their doublethink.
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Ignorants are everywhere, while people born without a sense of humor are pretty much in Italy, it seems :(
Mucho love from Tripoli!
Trapani... not Tripoli
Vai con Dio... not Vaya con Dios
500... not Cinquecento
PS: The new "500" mounts "Windows Mobile" an this make me so sad... :(
Commentards: GET A JOB!!!
Look at that fantastic reflecting effect made up for the car.
They really think different.
Anyone else notice Dennis Sellers of MacsimumNews at the 27-sec mark?
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