Ms. AdverThinker has an interesting opinion piece on the targeting and impact of the Kate Walsh Cadillac CTS commercial.  The blog is a speculation on Cadillac’s targeting of the female demographic, and the writer’s feelings or response to the commercial.

The commercials are playing again, and again, I asked a friend: is it weird that I really like these commercials?  This sparked an interesting conversation about who Cadillac is really targeting.  I assume that it is single, successful females-without young children-who connect with the the Addison Montgomery character of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.

I was surprised to consider that Cadillac was targeting a female demographic at all in this piece.  I consider a very attractive woman driving a Cadillac in a competitive manner appealing to a male demographic.  Perhaps because I consider the commercial from my point of view of course, and not as a targeted advertisement.

“In today’s luxury game, the question isn’t whether or not your car has available features like a 40-gig hard drive. It isn’t about sun roofs or Sapelli wood accents, popup nav screens or any of that. No, the real question is: When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?”

Advertising Age in their write up in 2007 echoed the idea that most people who DON’T drive a current Cadillac may be under the mistaken impression that Cadillac makes floaty land yachts and not high performance luxury sedans.  Their take on the response women might have from Kate Walsh’s performance in the commercial:

And so will women, who are sure to see this brazen foxiness as empowering — and maybe more than that.

I am glad to see Cadillac is still running this commercial a year later, which is a very long life for a commercial. Hopefully the success of this example will lead to other similar commercials that communicate features of modern Cadillacs well.