Goodwrench dumps Stephen Colbert for new no-fun ads...

Oct. 24--Comedian Stephen Colbert will no longer look for Mr. Goodwrench -- at least not in TV ads.

General Motors Corp.'s service and parts division is dumping its long-running and humorous TV spots in which wise guy Colbert tries desperately to find Mr. Goodwrench, who turns out to be all GM dealership service technicians.

Beginning today, GM will air two more-serious, 30-second Mr. Goodwrench TV commercials that stress the importance of regular vehicle maintenance. Leo Burnett Detroit advertising agency created the Down the Road national ad campaign, which uses dramatic visual metaphors to show how getting things such as brake inspections and oil changes can help prevent serious auto accidents, with the tag line "because who knows what's down the road?"

"Maintaining your vehicle is a serious thing, and we thought a more serious message would bring that across," said Michelle Ostrowski, manager of GM's Goodwrench advertising.

The ads are an example of how advertising mundane things such as vehicle maintenance and automobile parts can be difficult because they aren't sexy. So, to get attention, commercials often attempt to elicit an emotional response.

Mike Bernacchi, a marketing professor at University of Detroit Mercy, said the new Mr. Goodwrench ads seem to focus on "fear appeal" by showing people how something so ho-hum as routine vehicle maintenance can stop potentially fatal accidents.

The Down the Road campaign is a big departure for GM's service and parts unit, which reintroduced the Mr. Goodwrench character and catchphrase in 2003 through the comical ads in which Colbert was on a mission to find the elusive, one and only Mr. Goodwrench only to meet several GM dealership service technicians who are Mr. Goodwrench.

The new ads are more along the lines of original Mr. Goodwrench commercials, a campaign born in the mid-1970s and popular throughout the mid-1980s to promote the quality of GM parts and dealership technicians.

In one of the new spots, titled "Elephant," a woman averts a potential accident with an elephant -- which turns out to be a big truck -- because she got a free brake inspection from Mr. Goodwrench.

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