Chevrolet Pays Tribute To Prince
2016 has been a pretty rough year in terms of losing great entertainers. We lost David Bowie only two weeks into the year, followed swiftly by the likes of Alan Rickman, Glenn Frey, Merle Haggard, and more. Yesterday, the legendary American performer Prince passed away at the age of 57, leaving a music world that was already bruised in pain. The tributes have rolled in from around the world, from Broadway casts bursting into song at their curtain calls, to dance parties in his home city of Minneapolis, to works of art being spread across the internet.
One tribute might seem odd at first glance, but then upon closer inspection becomes wildly appropriate. Check out the tweet from Chevrolet below, which offers no words in the tweet itself, only a solemn image.
— Chevrolet (@chevrolet) April 22, 2016
Prince’s fans will recognize the tweet’s reference to lyrics from Prince’s “Little Red Corvette“. The single is from Prince’s album 1999 in 1983, and was his first hit to break the top 10 in the United States on the Hot 100 chart. The lyrics of the song compare the subject’s tendency to “Love ’em and leave ’em fast” to the speed of a zippy red Corvette.
The tweet has performed well, with more than 8,000 likes and retweets as of this article’s publishing. For Chevrolet, though, just that tweet was not enough. The automaker also took out a full page ad in several American newspapers, including USA Today, Minneapolis Star Tribune, The New York Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
Genius ad/ homage to #Prince by Corvette in @nytimes pic.twitter.com/KtVun6vLcA
— Laura Everett (@RevEverett) April 22, 2016
Some might say that it’s insensitive for the brand to use Prince’s passing as a way to promote red Chevy Corvettes, but we think it’s actually pretty sweet. The image is of a car with a current generation for sale, but the vehicle pictured is a classic edition. The ad and tweet are also both devoid of any bowties or other traditional Chevrolet branding.
Prince was certainly a monumental talent taken from us and his family way too soon. Celebrate his memory this weekend by listening to the amazing work he left behind.
News Source: AdWeek
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