The Cadillac Catera Had One of the Strangest Marketing Campaigns

Struggling to stay relevant in the ‘90s, Cadillac hoped the Catera would be the answer to their prayers. So how did lazy marketing further damage their reputation?
Written by Elaine Duvet
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Heavy and boring, car enthusiasts didn’t have many great things to say about the
Cadillac
Catera. Produced with the hopes of redeeming Cadillac’s stale image, the vehicle failed to attract the next generation of consumers. 
Deemed as one of
GM
’s “deadly sins,” was this luxury sedan really that much of a disaster?

Hard times for Cadillac in the ‘90s

In the early ‘90s, Cadillac struggled to stay afloat. The company had a hard time keeping up with highly sought-after Japanese and European sports cars. And the younger generation wanted vehicles that exuded luxury—not something their grandad would drive.
Since the Cadillac Seville had a European vibe, why not actually import a car from Europe? In 1996, when GM-owned German automaker, Opel, Cadillac introduced the Opel Omega then rebranded it as the Cadillac Catera. 
This four-door sedan offered rear-wheel drive and could fit five passengers. And only ended up selling 95,000 units over the course of five years.
According to
Money Inc
, “First introduced in the US as the Cadillac LSE concept car, the Catera was an entry-level vehicle designed to compete with the sedans coming from the likes of Acura, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz.”
In 1999, the American automaker rolled out a Sport model with 17-inch wheels, power-adjustable seats, and a rear spoiler. It also featured seat memory, high-intensity discharge headlamps, and an audible theft-deterrent system.
Standard on the Catera came features like anti-lock brakes, alloy wheels, and a radio with a cassette player and eight-speaker sound system. The vehicle also offered options for advanced technology like OnStar, Homelink, and a Bose premium sound system.
As far as the interior, the sedan housed bucket seats and a cloth interior. Drivers could upgrade to leather and even add heated seats.
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The Cadillac Catera caused accidents

Not only did the Catera suspiciously look a lot like the more affordable Chevy Malibu, but the car was a sluggish and clunky ride. The 3-liter L81 V6 engine just didn’t work in a car that was almost 4,000 pounds. 
And unfortunately, soon after the cars hit the market, countless accidents on the road were reported. “The problem was the timing belt tensioner pulley—a monstrously designed piece that had a terrible habit of failing, And when it failed, it failed in a drastic (and all too often, lethal) way,” according to Money Inc.
At first, Cadillac ignored complaints, but when they kept coming, GM issued a recall. The birth of the internet age didn’t help either, as news of the problem car spread fast.

The Caddy that flopped

MORE: Are Cadillac Sedan Models Reliable?
Perhaps a strong marketing team behind the Cadillac Catera could have saved the car, but unfortunately, their advertising was anything but. 
According to
Car and Driver
, “To enliven the ads, they animated one of the six merlettes in the Cadillac crest—those are the figures that look like ducks but are actually legless, beakless blackbirds from French heraldry (martlets in English heraldry) and are said to be loosely based on swallows.”
The ad team called the duck Ziggy because merlettes “zag” but Ziggy “zigs.” According to Money Inc, “The tagline was ‘the Caddy that zigs,’ the face was Cindy Crawford, and the death bell was a small, slightly sinister animated bird named ‘Ziggy.’” 
We get that Cadillac wanted to appeal to a younger demographic, but not that young. A red cartoon bird wizard sitting on Cindy Crawford’s shoulder as they drove through the night was a lame excuse for an advertising campaign. In fact, according to Car and Driver, it was voted the worst marketing campaign of 1997.
2001 market the last year this five-passenger sedan was produced. 
At least Cadillac learned its lesson and applied newfound knowledge to their future CTS vehicles. “With its sharp styling, easy handling, superb performance, and crisp interior, the CTS was everything the Catara wasn’t—and just the thing to save Cadillac’s luxury division and kick off the new millennium in style,” according to Money Inc. 
Let’s just go easy on the animated birds.
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