Elk Grove Auto Mall Special Offer

I never realized that narrowcasting was a technique used in YouTube ads until I came across this commercial for the Elk Grove Auto Mall. Clearly this ad appeared because I live in the Sacramento area. Although I am not a car owner I know that my father bought his Toyota at the Elk Grove Auto Mall. Anyway I was pleased because this ad wasn't about purchasing a car but it was about getting a limited time offer to gift cards. If you get an oil change you could revive $20 gift card from Grace Coffee Roasters, Original Pete's Pizza, Double Nickel Somke House, and Leatherby's Family Creamry. I must say for the first few seconds of the ad I was thrilled by the offer. Then it reached the end of the ad and it turned out you can only get a $5 gift card to each of these places.

What is anyone supposed to do with a $5 gift card in a steak restaurant? Five dollars will not buy you much in the menu of Leatherby's and certainly not in the other offered places. Still I think they had clever technique because they were able to advertise their auto mall and several other places they offered the gift cards to. The ad clearly used the bribery technique, and they also slightly used the time pressure/ exigency technique. They attempted to appeal to physiological needs by showing various food items from the place they offered gift cards for. Also the ad reminded me of an infomercial but it was much shorter and to the point. In 15 seconds they were able to capture my attention by a loud man's voice over talking about free offers. Although I felt negatively about this ad, I began to understand that I would remember it and because of that they have succeeded in making it effective.