When American super swimmer Michael Phelps won eight gold metals and broke seven world records at the 2008 Olympics, he became an instant celebrity. Since the Olympics were held in the land of the Great Wall, Phelps is perhaps an even bigger sensation in China. In fact, Phelps is so big in the Middle Kingdom that he has just scored what is believed to be the largest endorsement deal of any western celebrity, a $1 million deal to pitch the all-new Mazda6. Mazda is spending big bucks on a pitchmanin an effort to capitalize on its recent success in China. The outgoing 6, named Rui Yi in China, experienced a 43 percent sales increase in 2008, outpacing Mazda's already impressive brand-wide increase of 27 percent.

China is currently the world's third largest market, behind only Japan and the United States. The world's most populous nation is expected by many analysts to surpass Japan in this category as soon as this year, and the US could be in the rear view mirror by 2020. Mazda spending big to land an American hero shows goes some way to showing just how important the growing market is for the Japanese automaker.


[Source: Ad Age]

We'll have to make sure to rent a Mopar when we're in Detroit for the North American International Auto Show next week. Tribute Restaurant in nearby Farmington Hills is running a special promotion to honor folks who buy American. Food is half off for anyone driving a Chrysler product or who works for Chrysler the week of the show, January 11-17. But don't think the folks at The Tribute are just fans of the Pentastar.

The promotion kicked off on January 4, with Ford being the honored marque through January 10, while GM owners will get their discount during the week of January 18-24. The final week of the month (Jan. 25-31), everybody can get in on the special deal. All American cars will be featured that week and the discount will even be extended to automotive suppliers and dealers. The discounts apply to just the food portion of your bill at dinner or Sunday brunch and reservations are recommended.

[Source: MSNBC]

Amidst all the recent bailout talk, one question being asked is what role GM's Opel division will serve in a new-and-hopefully-improved General Motors. More succinctly, will Vauxhall and Saturn soldier on unchanged or will they simply fade into automotive landscape? Automotive News seems to think the question of Opel and how it relates to Vauxhall and Saturn is so important that it's worth devoting three separate editorials to the issue, with varying levels of clarity.

We've heard it before: drinking and driving don't mix. We know. And we're not about to condone the combination of the two. But we also can't help but wonder why there seems to be so much crossover between automobiles and alcohol: beer and whiskey logos on race cars, Martini striping on rally cars, champagne sprayed all over victorious drivers, mixed drinks named after sports cars.... You get the picture, and so does Fiat. The Italian auto giant isn't about to miss out on the action, so they've teamed up with Scimaglio vineyards to launch their own line of fine wines.

Scrimaglio is a family vineyard with roots going back over a century in the Nizza Monferrato winemaking region of Italy. Through their "fashion wines" project, they've now launched wines under the Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo labels, including whites, reds and sparking Spumantes. We're still hung over from New Years' Eve, so we won't be tasting them for you just yet. But we like the pretty bottles, which you can check out in the gallery below. Just make sure you have a designated driver before you do.


[Source: Scrimaglio]

Three video spots for the new Nissan 370Z show the marque is serious about reclaiming some of the genuine sports car credentials that were crushed underneath the weight of the last version. Apparently done before Nissan changed its tagline to "Shift_the way you move," these are straight up about shifting desire at high speed from one point to another. One of them is a Japanese market commercial, which means lots of clouds and piano music, but the rest are all Six Million Dollar Man: better, faster, stronger. Follow the jump to check them all out. Thanks for the tip, Chad!


[Source: YouTube]

After receiving at least $4 billion dollars in low cost government loans, Chrysler, LLC thought the least it could do was thank the American people for their support. Instead of calling a press conference or writing a heart-felt letter to major newspapers, team Pentastar thought it best to take out full page ads in newspapers across America. Actually, maybe it wasn't such a good idea (not to mention several pop-up text ads). It seems there are quite a few Americans that don't like the fact that Chrysler found the need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars taking out ads in papers when the company is struggling to remain in business. The full page ads were run in papers including the USA Today and Wall Street Journal, where the price of a full-page ad can reportedly cost up to $264,000.

Action group American Solutions calls the ads "a precise example of the fact that they do not get it" and Americans for Tax Reform likened Chrysler's ads to a polite robber that said please and thank you but still made off with the cash. It's not surprising that special interest groups would jump on the ads, but apparently some tax-paying Americans are just as displeased. A click over to Chrysler's blog shows some angry responses. There are 15 consumer responses so far, and none of them are positive. We're no ad gurus, but this didn't seem like a very good idea from the start, and it appears we're not alone.

[Source: Fox News]

After discovering that Hyundai would be running two separate commercials during the Super Bowl to introduce the Genesis coupe to the masses, we've been trying to imagine what kind of "precision driving footage" Rhys Millen would provide "matched to a completely distinct soundtrack" from cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The two spots share a single theme, "The Epic Lap."

Rhetorical ads aside, we're genuinely excited about the upcoming Genesis Coupe, which will be offered with either a 210-horsepower (220 with premium fuel) 2.0L turbocharged four or a 306 hp 3.8L V6 driving the rear wheels. Considering how cool Hyundai's other Genesis Coupe commercials have been, we're looking forward to seeing this one too. You can count us among the millions of viewers who'll be tuning into the big game on Sunday, Feb. 1st, regardless of who happens to be playing.

Later, Hyundai will launch a contest where online users can edit their own "Epic Lap" commercials. That sounds like it should get the creative juices flowing rather nicely. Hit the jump to read the press release and thanks to all who tipped in!


[Source: Hyundai]

Now it begins to make sense: The previous performance art video teasers for the 2010 Prius were made up largely of edited shots from this teaser, with the Blue Man Group restored to its place. This one doesn't make any more or less sense than the previous videos, and there isn't much more to see, but it does offer a couple of chuckles. We would love to see how far you get with that eyedropper, though. Follow the jump to check out the video and see what we mean. Hat tip to reader Jerry!


[Source: YouTube]

DDB London, the ad firm that gave VW the singing dog commercial – and took home an award for its work – is back in the ring with a spot for the new Golf. Taking a little bit of Matrix, a little bit of Bourne, and even a spin kick move from Transporter 3, a VW designer has to battle his way to the very end to prove a point. As usual, it's pretty nifty and worth a watch. And after that, if you're looking for something completely different, you should check out this VW ad that presents an entirely new take on Toy Story. Check 'em both out after the jump.

[Source: Guardian]

It sounds as if it's about time to get Bob Lutz some face-time with Mark LaNeve, 'cause the two men are trumpeting vastly different statements regarding the future of The General's interstellar brand. Recall that Lutz was recently quoted as saying, "It's really much better to have fewer brands, do it well and then market the hell out of them." This statement was directed squarely at the Saturn Aura, which is selling in much lower quantities than its platform-mate, the Chevy Malibu. Much of the blame can be attributed to the fact that these two vehicles are fighting for the exact same customers, yet only the Malibu gets the big ad bucks for promotion, which is probably as it should be considering that the Malibu is GM's best and most recent midsize sedan.

So, what to do with Saturn in these troubled times of belt-tightening? Ditch the brand entirely? Not so fast, counters LaNeve, who recently told dealers that, "We are completely behind Saturn." Hopefully, being "behind" the brand means cutting the number of models it sells and reducing that internal competition between rival GM brands while still keeping the Saturn name alive with new and exciting – not to mention well marketed – products. Sounds easy, right?

[Source: CNN]