Humor Slips a Bit in Jiffy Lube Campaign

Advertiser: Southern California Jiffy Lube franchisees

Agency: Fuller Group, Los Angeles

Challenge: Develop campaign that distinguishes Jiffy Lube from other firms that offer quick oil changes, thus preventing the brand from becoming a generic term.

The Ads: The campaign consists of outdoor ads that use such puns as “Oil of L.A.” and radio spots that suggest smart car owners take their cars to Jiffy Lube. In one radio ad, a policeman asks a man named Tommy where he was during a bank robbery. When Tommy says he was at a Jiffy Lube, the cop grills him. “Was the service guaranteed? . . . Did you make an appointment?” When Tommy becomes confused, the cop arrests him, because “anyone who can’t tell the difference between a Jiffy Lube and a phony doesn’t know whether he robbed a bank or not.” Other radio ads play up attributes of Jiffy Lube in “conversations” between a married couple and a therapist and patient.

Comment: The banter between characters in the radio ads is silly. But the spots do communicate what the franchisees believe to be the attributes of Jiffy Lube. $$