J-Lo's Fiat Flap Much Ado About Nothing
By: Philip LeBeau | CNBC Auto and Airline Industry Reporter
In the world of car ads, the latest hub bub over the Fiat adsfeaturing J-Lo is perhaps the biggest non-story getting a lot of attention.
To re-cap, it came out this week that the Fiat commercial with Jennifer Lopez driving a 500 through a Bronx neighbor was actually shot with a body double doing the shots of the car driving through the neighborhood.
For the close-ups of J-Lo driving, they shot her in a location other than the neighborhood.
Oh the outrage! Yes, I'm being sarcastic. There have been plenty of comments bagging on Fiat and J-Lo for giving the appearance she was in her old neighborhood, when she really wasn't.
I'm chuckling at these comments because body doubles are routinely used in commercials which feature celebrities. Heck, a few years back I was at Buick commercial shoot with Tiger Woods where his body double stood in for those shots where the crew didn't need close-ups. Not once did I ever hear someone say, "Tiger and Buick oughtta be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves."
But with J-Lo and Fiat folks are mocking and ridiculing the commercial because "Jenny from the block" was never actually on the block in commercial.
I suspect the criticism is borne out of the fact J-Lo is a frequent target of the gossip magazines and there are a fair number of people who may not like her Fiat ads. I've heard more than a few people say, "Oh come on, J-Lo would never drive herself around, let alone in a pint-size Fiat 500."
Folks, quit taking these ads so literally. Do you think every celebrity actually uses every product they endorse/represent in commercials? Of course not.
Give Fiat credit. The J-Lo ads (and product placement on the American Music Awards) are generating conversation. And for Fiat, that's the best way to cut through the clutter in the car biz.
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___________________________ Questions? Comments? BehindTheWheel@cnbc.comand Follow me on Twitter @LeBeauCarNews
