Mitsubishi Breaks Ad Campaign for All-New Raider Truck During Major Football and Baseball Games

Mitsubishi Breaks Ad Campaign for All-New Raider Truck During Major Football and Baseball Games

'Driven to Thrill' Campaign Continues with 'J. Cool' Theme and Contemporary Edge Showing 'Best Backed' Mid-Size Pickup as Most Intimidating Truck in Its Class

CYPRESS, Calif., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) today unveiled its national advertising campaign to support the launch of its all-new Raider midsize truck. Created by Mitsubishi's world-renowned advertising agency, BBDO, the multi-media campaign's debut television commercial will appear beginning the week of Oct. 3. Commercials will air during Major League Baseball Divisional Series, League Championship Series and the World Series, CBS College Football, and NFL regional and national games, including Monday Night Football.

The Raider ad campaign is directly in line with Mitsubishi's new brand direction, celebrating the company's reputation for standout styling, outstanding performance and world-class engineering, while wrapping the product message in Japanese pop culture imagery known as "J.Cool." In addition, the Raider ads convey that this truck is distinctly different from others on the road. For example, print ads show the truck in an aggressive stance with Japanese Zen strokes in the background, with ad copy reading "It will never, ever play nice with other trucks" and "You must promise to only use it for good."

"The Raider ads are the next evolution of our hugely successful new 'Driven to Thrill' brand campaign that started with the Eclipse," said Dave Schembri, MMNA executive vice president of sales and marketing. "They really position our product message as uniquely Mitsubishi. The copy and creative shows the Raider truck truly is the alpha male in its segment."

The first television commercial, a :30 spot titled "King of the Hill," depicts the Raider in a Samurai-style showdown with a not-identified competitive-brand truck. After ravaging the hillside performing a slew of off-road maneuvers highlighting the truck's prowess and capabilities, the Raider comes to a face-off with another midsize truck. The scene is set to J.Cool Taiko drum music, reinforcing the tone of the overall brand campaign.

The spot also will be shown on FOX's "Best Damn Sports Show" in conjunction with weekly college football preview segments and live "Raider Tailgate" broadcasts with signage, on-air graphics and logos. In addition, it will run in select markets over the next month on primetime shows, including "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Law & Order SVU," "The Apprentice," "CSI" and "Saturday Night Live" and on major national cable networks such as USA, TBS, TNT, FX, A&E, E!, Comedy Central, ESPN, FOX Sports and FOX News. Additionally, the print campaign kicks off in November issues of a number of consumer and auto enthusiast publications slated to hit newsstands in the beginning of October.

"We wanted to make a competitive statement about the all-new Raider truck, but in a way consistent with our creative approach," said Bill Bruce, EVP and executive creative director at BBDO New York. "The new advertising embraces those elements that are uniquely associated with Mitsubishi's 'J.Cool,' then literally shows the competition react as it is challenged by the new Raider."

In addition to print and television, outdoor, on-line and point-of-sale materials also reinforce the excitement of owning and driving a Mitsubishi Raider and incorporate J.Cool elements with painted Zen strokes that emulate Japanese alphabet characters and a truck's tire markings in the mud.

Raider print ads will appear in publications such as GQ, Maxim, Men's Health, Rolling Stone, ESPN Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Truck Trend and Road & Track, while traditional outdoor billboard ads will show up in multiple markets from September through November. The Raider's online presence will be seen on AOL, Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book, Yahoo autos and Yahoo sports as well as MSN.

The all-new 2006 Mitsubishi Raider is the second of three new products MMNA will introduce in 12 months. Designed to appeal to truck buyers and those looking for fresh alternatives to mid-size sedans and SUVs, Raider is available in a combination of extended and double cab body styles, two- and four-wheel drive and equipped with six-passenger seating and class-leading rear legroom.

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA) is responsible for all manufacturing, finance, sales, marketing, research and development operations of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in the United States. Mitsubishi Motors currently sells coupes, convertibles, sedans, trucks and sport utility vehicles through a network of approximately 570 dealers. For more information, contact the Mitsubishi Motors News Bureau at (888) 560-6672 or visit http://media.mitsubishicars.com/.

Source: Mitsubishi Motors North America

CONTACT: Janis Little, Manager, Product Communications, +1-714-372-6429, jlittle@mmsa.com, or Mitsubishi News Bureau, +1-888-560-6672, newsbureau@mmsa.com, both of Mitsubishi Motors North America

Web site: http://media.mitsubishicars.com/

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