Fallon and Cooper Tires created a new spokesman for the company. His name is Uncle Cooper, and Uncle Cooper knows a lot about tires.
There are several explanatory videos like the one above in this campaign. Uncle Cooper was inspired by consumer research which revealed that consumers lack confidence in their tire buying decisions. Drivers also reported that despite a wealth of available information, they often have lingering questions after the purchase.
Uncle Cooper’s role is to help ease these doubts.
Something New Under the Sun: In-Tire Advertising
I like Uncle Cooper. He is a throwback character from another time. He is the uncle who knows cars but doesn’t know how to open Zoom for a chat. As an advertising spokesperson, Uncle Cooper joins a long line of fictional characters who provide testimony on the client’s behalf.
Uncle Cooper is not Mayhem or Flo pitching car insurance, he is the real-life-like uncle from Jersey who comes over to help you move and comes with you when you buy a car. He’s super real for a fictional character. Mayhem and Flo, on the other hand, are not at all real.
Being real can also mean being stale. To avoid that, Fallon put their new mascot inside the tire as the vehicle moves over the road. It’s a silly move, conceptually, but the execution makes the campaign stronger.
Framing matters. New matters. Accents matter. Serial content matters.
The call-to-action, “Go with the Coopers” is also strong because it implies family. The family and the uncle are fictional, but the idea that drivers can count on their proverbial uncle and his extended family while on the road is reassuring.
Uncle Cooper tells bad jokes, but that’s part of his charm and part of what makes him appear real. In real life, you might roll your eyes when your real-life uncle says dumb things or over-advises you on a topic near and dear to him. But he’s your uncle, so you allow it and secretly think he’s kind of funny and charming.
