Ford rebuts Cadillac's "Poolside" ad, swapping mansions for dirt

Cadillac took some heat for its recent "Poolside" ad during the Sochi Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, in which actor Neal McDonough portrays a man aggressively living the American dream — gazing across his serene pool, judging other countries for not working hard enough, while driving his $75,000 Cadillac ELR plug-in hybrid.

That swagger struck some people the wrong way — and Ford's marketing minds saw an opportunity.

The Ford take uses a similar script and homogeneous shots. Rather than mimicking something critics described as "egoistic," "materialistic" or insinuating that poor people don't work hard enough, Ford opted for the environmentalist route, enlisting Pashon Murray, the founder of sustainability consultant and advocacy group Detroit Dirt.

In contrast, Murray praises other countries for buying locally grown produce while stating how she collects food scraps from restaurants and manure from zoos to keep it out of landfills. Ford utilizes its $33,745 C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid, illustrating its concerns regarding conserving resources and practicing sustainability.

See the two ads below:

Cadillac

Ford

Ford's ad agency told the Detroit Free Press that its spot was intended as "lighthearted" and that it wasn't mocking its competitor. "We're trying to showcase positive work being done in our community," Ford said, suggesting the opportuntiy to spur its century-long rivalry with GM was just gravy.

Ford's shrewd move has garnered nearly 700,000 YouTube views as of writing this. And while on the surface one might assume GM would be mad, it's only adding to the "Poolside" commercial's 1.4 million hits. And that's what all this is really about, n'est-ce pas?