It’s been about a decade since Toyota launched their electric hybrid car, the Prius, worldwide. So, give Chevrolet credit for picking up on the idea and realizing that, “Hey, pretty much every other major car company has a hybrid electric vehicle. We should probably build one too.”

Enter the new Chevy Volt and its “Runs Deep” campaign done by the good folks at Goodby. Premiering during the World Series last night (Giants won FYI), the TV spot already has the audience Chevy needs to sell tons of earth-friendly cars stamped with an American seal of approval. The only problem is that ads like “Anthem” shown above might be too subtle for anyone to notice…at all. Unless, of course, you’re just a fan of Freelance Whales (and you should be).

Now, no one’s asking voiceover guy Tim Allen to overwhelm GM and Chevy with his trademark Home Improvement “man-grunt” noises. And, admittedly, the creatives as Goodby are much better at what they do than most, that being clean-cut simplicity. But, if you’re making a commercial about the “American Way” airing during “America’s Favorite Pastime,” why not use a bit more patriotic imagery? If your electric car is the kind that actually plugs into an outlet, why not show that onscreen for more than half a second so people can see what you’re doing? Also, if your car can run solely on an electric charge for 40 miles, more than 75 percent of the country’s daily commute, wouldn’t you include something about that other than some fine print at the bottom of your ad or mentioning “really far”? Maybe I just don’t understand why Chevy’s trying to sell spontaneity to the kind of people who are counted on to watch the World Series every year.

Credits after the jump. continued…

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