It’s been remarked before that any publicity, regardless of what the intention might be, is good publicity. With a new model year on the horizon and the competition among the different manufacturers stronger than ever, Nissan has taken great lengths to ensure that the 2023 Nissan Kicks is a hot item that everyone wants. Their choice to advertise the vehicle in question has been a unique one, to say the least, and the Japanese manufacturer hopes to really make a killing with their sales.
At Blankmanship Automotive, a certified Nissan Kicks dealer, a partnership with former NFL running back O.J. Simpson was announced last month, and for those of you who were watching the news last week, you most likely heard about the high-speed chase that conjured up memories from several years ago.
It was all the way back in 1994 when Simpson was charged with the murders of his former wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson, and her affair partner Ronald Goldman. While Simpson was later acquitted of all charges during a trial that caught the nation’s interest, it was a particular event associated with the case that saw everyone drop their daily routine to rally behind the “Juice.” While Simpson had been known for getting behind former Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Al Cowlings to strike fear in the hearts of NFL defenses throughout the 1970s, Cowlings found himself in the driver’s seat once again on a high-speed pursuit that took place in Simpson’s Ford Bronco. Many Los Angeles residents cheered on Simpson as his Bronco raced across the freeway, with several cars of the Los Angeles Police Department in close pursuit.
With the pop-culture nostalgia of the 1990s starting to gain traction and popularity, Nissan has wasted no time capitalizing upon it. Simpson and Cowlings once again took the Los Angeles freeway system to recreate their epic car chase, with several Altimas painted up to look like police cruisers following closely behind them. “The Kicks handles much better than the Bronco,” Cowlings remarked to a local news station who were covering the event. “If the Juice had one of these back in ’94, the pursuit would have lasted longer because the SUV handles so well. It’s a shame SUVs weren’t as good back then as they are now, running from the cops with adaptive cruise control and an infotainment screen would have made everything much more fun.”
Shenji Asuhara, a sales rep for Nissan, explained in detail the strategy the brand has decided to utilize in advertising the 2023 Nissan Kicks. “It’s really quite simple…name recognition is how brands reach consumers. People have been on a wave of ’90s nostalgia as of late, and with the O.J. Simpson trial still being a polarizing topic, we decided to use the strong audience reaction to our advantage. By recreating an infamous high-speed chase, we get to tap into the nostalgia of the ’90s that so many people are obsessing over and get to show off all the advantages that the Kicks has to offer the average American consumer.”
We asked Asuhara if Simpson was his first choice, to which he revealed a scrapped plan from several years ago. “Well, we thought about recreating the Rodney King beating with a 1997 Sentra, but King’s attorney advised his client to not take part. We also tried a similar stunt with our 2002 Altima, following the same route that Princess Diana took to her death. The French government didn’t let us, which was a disappointment considering the slogan “the Altima is to DI for” was already geared up for the model year.”
