Bumblebee seems to be the talk of the town these days and this piece of news is coming from the Asian region.
Chevrolet Philippines had a chat with ABS-CBN News and stated that the character helped to reestablish the Chevrolet brand in the country.
“Filipino kids dragged their parents to Chevrolet showrooms to see the Camaro sports car similar to the one that transformed into Bumblebee in the hit Hollywood franchise, as the US auto-maker re-established itself in the Philippines nearly a decade ago.
“We would see children, really small kids pulling their dads, pulling their mothers,” said Chevrolet Philippines president and managing director Alberto Arcilla. It made the brand have a younger feel, something you fall in love with because there’s a very strong connection”.”
Situation isn’t all that different in Sri Lanka; this newsie’s home country. Entrance to the Chevrolet showroom in the capital is adorned with a statue of Bumblebee, welcoming the visitors. The movies helped with the sales for Chevrolet Beat and Trax (vehicle modes of Skids and Mudflap) as well as other Chevrolet vehicles in the country.
Back in Philippines, Chevrolet is bringing in the Corvette ZR1 (Crosshairs) by the third quarter of the year, with sales expected to grow 20 percent for the full year.
deathzero23
Well the Ferrari didn't make it in toy form. Yeah, license conflict with Mattel, etc..
Anyways, action films is always a home for promoting car products.
Car companies should be more aggressive in doing this.
Angry Camaro
I dragged my parents to see the Camaro in the showroom. Now I drag them out to the driveway to see mine parked there
Ferrari did bring their car to the screen, remember??
And I guess you did not see my thread on GM not having as much of a spotlight in this last film.
FCA (Fiat-Chrysler) has really been pushing their products lately in films. They are all over the place now because they saw the potential (Transformers).
deathzero23
If other car manufacturers are open minded bring their product to the silver screen, they could've earn more profits in their sales.
– Ferrari
– Maserati
– etc..
They should imitate Lamborghini, Bugatti & Pagani jumping to the TF scene.
It cannot be always GM and Chevy having to sole spotlight.
Bumblethumper
disgusting, really
They could trade on reputation: make really well-designed, efficient, reliable cars, and and win the honest way; or they could target the emotions of children, and use that to sell their cars. Buy your children's love, your kids will think you're the coolest! Crossover appeal to guilty parents and immature manchildren. Transformers was sold to the highest automotive bidder, and from the looks of things, GM got their money's worth!
okay, perhaps I'm laying it on a bit thick.
Russian fan
You are happy I see one per year, but, thanks to Bumblebee, I can see it! My first seen Camaro was yellow with black stripes in 2011, right before DOTM It was so nice surprise! Adore Camaro, mmm:rolleyes
Why? He doesn't deserve it? Everything is right – it should be a dream-car. It is still achievable, but you should try hard to get it – but as a result you will get much more pleasure. It is one of the coolest moments in life – when your big dreams come true!
Prime135
I ask myself every day…why oh why can’t that be a real, commercially available car…?
Afterburner
Kind of sad really, considering the car is about as un-Bumblebee as it gets.
Burnout00012
Hahah, same, that was my first time encountering the phrase "Concept car", and I was desperately trying to find one, saying "It turns into a car that doesn't really exist yet?!"
Ahhh, good times!
dmc2008
Say what you want about Michael Bay’s influence on the TF franchise, but what he’s done for Chevy has been mind-blowing. I see at least one Camaro every day. I remember the mad rush to try and find the deluxe Concept Camaro Bumblebee back in 07.. the hype was real, and still is for many fans/kids/car enthusiasts.
LegoLover58
Majestic Senzu
Now I can't unsee that dopey smile on the new Camaro.
Raiju
I still can't unsee a dopey smile on that silly front fascia on the new Camaro. It's cool that the movies are influencing car sales for the better.
However, a former coworker of mine had a previous generation Camaro and I didn't really like how low the roof was combined with the limited view of vision when I sat inside it (the windows also were too low and narrow for my tastes).
Not a fan of Bee on general principle but the first and third movies did inspire me to buy a black Mustang because of Barricade. The Mustang (at least the previous generation; I'm not too familiar with the current generation of cars) has a better balance of style, comfort, and performance, I think, but that's just me.
Agreed. No Japanese car brands in any of the live action movies yet is just baffling to me when car brands like Nissan played a huge part in G1. Would love it if an Autobot or Decepticon had a Nissan GT-R for an alt mode, for example (Drift would've been the perfect candidate but they keep giving him a European sports car alt mode instead).
myrrh
…i hope the soft reboot features more diversity of manufacturers beyond general motors; not that all their cars suck, but most of their cars are kind of mediocre, which made the first films in particular feel a bit like like a lame commecial…
MindChamber
Bumblebee… The new Joe Camel.
Deadend
That's awesome!
SilverOptimus
News Post: How Bumblebee Helped Chevrolet In Philippines