As Chevrolet continues to ramp up deliveries of the new-for-2019 Silverado 1500, the bow-tie brand will officially commence the full-size truck's advertising effort tonight during the College Football Playoff National Championship game, as well as afterward with an integrated appearance during Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC.
While some of the spots that Chevy previewed for us contained more cheese than others, by far the coolest was "Tailgates," which walks the viewer through the Chevrolet pickup's cargo-bed operation over the course of the brand's 100-plus-year history, culminating with the fob-activated motion of the new Silverado's segment-first power-opening-and-closing tailgate. With fun, period-correct scenes and lots of neat sheetmetal, it's a simple yet effective angle that lightly tugs at the heartstrings of nostalgia while speaking to Chevy's experience in the segment.
The television campaign will kick off properly during the big game with a 60-second spot, "A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock 'n' Roll," which plays on the lyrics of the Donny and Marie Osmond song to showcase the Silverado as being, according to Chevy, "designed and engineered for all facets of America."
And lest you think switching off the tube will curtail Chevrolet's latest Silverado push, you can also soon expect to see the half-ton pickup emblazoned on more than seven million Amazon boxes, gracing the covers of Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated magazines, and infiltrating the homepages of YouTube and CNN, among other placements. Chevy says that all of this is designed to reinforce the new 1500 as the "strongest, most advanced Silverado ever," but we're just happy to see some cool old trucks in action.
Mike Sutton is an editor, writer, test driver, and general car nerd who has contributed to Car and Driver's reverent and irreverent passion for the automobile since 2008. A native Michigander from suburban Detroit, he enjoys the outdoors and complaining about the weather, has an affection for off-road vehicles, and believes in federal protection for naturally aspirated engines.
