Bret Michaels Makes Musical Return For Nissan, Still Sucks

Bret Michaels became famous as the front man in 1980’s hair band Poison, which became popular for its “power ballads.” Now, the rock star is back, do-rag still in place, doing a cover version of Lionel Richie’s Endless Love on behalf of Nissan to advertise their commercial van lineup. While the commercial is creative and fun, we all are reminded of why nobody cried when Poison broke up and Bret Michaels was sent out to pasture.

The ad campaign is called Tough Love and is headlined by a four-minute music video featuring Bret Michaels and some Nissan technicians, commercial vans, and an unnamed guitar player. Oh, and a Bret Michaels bobblehead doll, which makes a cameo on one of the van’s dashboards.

In true 1990’s MTV style, the video features magazine model-quality women fawning over Michaels the rock star as he croons. Bret, never known for having a wide vocal range, mainly sings in a half-octave monotone throughout.

All quasi-nostalgia aside, though, the commercial is a step away from the usual when it comes to commercial vehicle ads.

The action begins with a couple of Nissan technicians considering a van and being interrupted by a power riff and Bret Michaels stepping in wearing his signature black t-shirt, faded and well-worn blue jeans, and tall red bandana. From that point forward, the love song continues as various stress tests and trials begin for the big van.

The technicians work around Michaels, sometimes participating in the music, showing up in various locations on Nissan’s proving grounds in Stanfield, Arizona. Throughout, the music has Bret Michaels effusing his love for the van and even surfing on one. At one point, a guitar is smashed against the side of the van, leaving nary a mark and disintegrating the instrument. When it’s all done, Bret climbs into said van and is driven away by the hottest of the technicians after giving tearful goodbyes to the others. It’s tough to tell which of the two has more makeup on.

Fred Diaz, Nissan North America’s senior vice president of sales, marketing and operations, states, in a release, that “Bret Michaels is a true hardcore car and motorcycle enthusiast and really took an interest in the entire development and testing process.” The video is the first in a series of videos showcasing Bret Michaels, who most recently was seen in the reality show Rock of Love.

In the ad series, Michaels is shown talking about the van, the video shooting process, the cover song itself, and more. The online and soon to be offline campaign with Bret is aimed towards commercial vehicle buyers, a segment Nissan has only recently began courting. Most of the ancillary videos for the main musical presentation have Bret Michaels explaining the testing process that portion of the video showcased, giving more detail about the reasons for the testing and what it proves. In these, with most of the rocker facade removed, Bret Michaels comes across as genuine and informative. Check out the video below and visit NissanUSA on YouTube to see more.

http://youtu.be/YXcrOjO8tn8