Shots fired! According to this new car spot from Arnold Worldwide, Volvos are for real people, but Mercedes-Benzes are for snooty women of the 1% who preen at themselves in rearview mirrors. This is some good, clean class warfare, automobile-style, and luxury brands better watch out.

A few years ago, a Volvo was a boring car for people who needed affordable transportation. Now, the price hasn’t changed much, but the image has shifted slowly. It’s not that crazy to think that someone with enough money would pick a Volvo over a Benz. And the new spot tugs at the right cords of today’s economic realities to make the comparison seem not only feasible, but preferable. There are also a few campaign teasers on Facebook that flesh out the appeal of Volvo as “luxury for real people,” including: If your dog has a wardrobe, the Volvo s60 probably isn’t for you. Now they’re going after snobby women and people who dress up their dogs! More shots fired, Volvo. I’m in. Credits after the jump.

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Back in the early 2000s, the Honda Civic might have seemed like an appropriate buy for a street racer looking for a light car with a lot of engine space for illegal parts. But, we’ve come a long way since The Fast and the Furious, and this new campaign from RPA reminds us of the timeless adage, “To each their own.”

The spots feature five original Honda-driving characters (who each will have their own individual spots), the Urban Woodsman, the Zombie, the Monster, the Ninja and the Champion Luchador who goes by Cesar. In a statement, RPA EVP/ECD Joe Baratelli says, “We want to talk directly with our target by tapping into their appreciation for ‘collective individualism’-addressing the diversity of Civic drivers while also engaging them around their common interests.” On the online front, full homepage-takeovers are planned for YouTube and MSN. If RPA gets lucky, maybe the Honda Civic will become the go-to vehicle of Generation Y. At worst, we’ll see a couple more Luchadors cruising around in Civics. Credits and another spot after the jump.

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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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