Hey Cadillac, I Double-Dog Dare You

Cadillac’s latest advertising push dares greatly to send a message. In fact the tagline is “Dare Greatly.”

Webster’s defines dare variously as “to confront boldly,” and greatly as “to a great extent or degree.” How this helps sell cars is another story.

For one thing, the early TV commercials didn’t even include a Cadillac but, rather, mainly tall buildings and pedestrians with famed French singer Edith Piaf singing “Non, Le me regretted rien” (“No, I regret nothing”) plaintively in the background.

It all seems to be part of a supposedly clever buildup because in later versions you can spot a Caddy, and then a bevy of Caddies can be seen whizzing about.

But there was no fooling around with full-page print ads where the cars, as tradition warrants, were the stars, even as the message remained the same: Cadillac is out to reinvent itself as a competitor in the global luxury market.

Shifting its headquarters to New York City is part of that strategy. Presumably the Big Apple location adds some panache, light years removed from Detroit, which in 1701 was founded by French army officer Antoine de la Cadillac, from which the car gets its name. A bevy of new or refreshed offerings coming during the next few years is another part of the strategy.

And now “Dare Greatly.”

Standing by itself, the tagline is a tad puzzling. What exactly is Cadillac driving at? I checked its web page seeking some clarification. Johan de Nysschen, president of Cadillac Global, says Cadillac can’t follow other luxury car makers if it’s going to reclaim greatness.

“At Cadillac we dare greatly because we believe those who dare drive the world forward,” he says.  Lofty language.

“To again become the Standard of Excellence (actually Cadillac’s longtime boast was “Standard of the World”) around the globe we cannot follow any examples set by the luxury market establishment,” de Nysshen says.

He also asks: “How dare a 112-year-old carmaker reinvent itself?”

To which we respond “greatly?”

The automaker’s ads also feature comments by high-achievers whose purportedly bold insights and passions have dared to make a difference. Perhaps best known is Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Others include fashion designer Jason Wu; Wall Street analyst Anne Wojcicki, who’s devoted to DNA research “to unlock the secrets of world diseases;” Njeri Rionge, a hairdresser who became one of Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs. One of the companies she co-founded is bringing low-cost Internet service to East Africa; and film director Richard Linklater, who took 12 years to produce the Oscar-nominated “Boyhood” in real time.

So who dreamt up the phrase? Turns out Teddy Roosevelt used it in a Paris speech on taking chances during a 1910 visit. One Cadillac commercial uses a long quote from the speech, in which he concludes: “Who best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who, at worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.”

Now I double-dog dare de Nysschen to sell some cars.