Chevrolet released a new ad campaign today that focuses on the strength of pickup truck beds. Specifically, it compares how Chevrolet’s steel bed compares to the aluminum bed in the F-150. Chevrolet released two videos, a press release with statistics, and held a 30-minute conference call to announce their findings and results. As ad campaigns go, this is an aggressive move by Chevrolet against Ford.
During the conference call, Chevrolet denied that this campaign is an attack on Ford and their aluminum bed construction. The company stated that the intention was to demonstrate the capability of the two truck beds. Chevrolet explained that the trucks used in the demonstrations were purchased from dealership lots, and no bedliners were used in order to test the beds themselves, not the affects of bedliners on the beds.
Here are the two videos posted by Chevrolet. The first one features “Real people. Not actors.” However, it does feature a moderator from Chevrolet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTm2F4ysQrE
The second video features Chevrolet spokesperson, Howie Long, for another take on the real-world testing.
Chevrolet performed several scientific laboratory and several real-world tests. The lab testing included dropping a “wedge striker” that is 0.7 inches wide and weighs 17 pounds onto 6.3 by 6.3 inch bed material samples. The aluminum bed sample was able to withstand 40 joules of impact energy before puncture, while the steel sample showed a puncture at 90 joules, according to Chevrolet.
The real-world tests included dropping a 825 pounds load of landscaping rocks from a height of five feet. Chevrolet also performed tests using two metal tool boxes
Refer to the complete Chevrolet press release for the test results data.
Of course, every advertising campaign has its own angle and result. Take a look at the following two ad videos that Ford published in 2014 when they were launching the aluminum-bodied 2015 Ford F-150.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKy4J9YDonY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8gbEfeVGhw
Please use these polls, the comments section, and TFLtruck forum to let us know your thoughts about this campaign and your preference of steel versus aluminum.
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