Skip to content

Nissan launches Quest family minivan with all-Asian TVC

From a time when hardly any Asians took the spotlight in American TV commercials, it is refreshing to see diversity on TV these days.

In Kay Jeweler’s recent “Proposal” TVC, one couple after another shows different ethnic groups, with the men asking the women, “Will You Marry Me?” in English and even in Chinese.

More recently, Target and Nissan took the road less traveled but won people’s hearts.

Target features a mom and her daughter with the latter’s boyfriend. They’re all Asians. It forms part of a series of ads featuring the giant retail chain store’s ubiquitous slogan, “Expect more. Pay less.”

Nissan, on the other hand, raised the ante when it relied on an all-Asian cast to introduce its re-entry into the family minivan market in the United States via the new Nissan Quest.

Asians are family-oriented more than anything else, so it just made perfect sense for Nissan to honor the Asian family dynamic.

After all, Asian Americans are one of its biggest customers. This is not surprising, considering Asians’ purchasing power has reached more than $600 billion, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth.

Asians also have the highest household income with a sizable number of family members at home, making the all-Asian casting in the Nissan TV ad a smart move indeed.

The Quest’s features show how “innovation…makes the toughest job on the planet a little easier.” With even tough Asian supermoms loving it, who else wouldn’t?

In the TV commercial, the supermom is shown managing her hectic lifestyle with the Quest’s one-touch entry (a foot to open the door, as she juggles her heap of groceries), permanent rear storage, and an advanced climate control system with an air scrubber designed to remove unwanted smells.

Talk about fully loaded. The 2011 Nissan Quest is a seven-passenger vehicle that has a standard 3.5-liter V6 engine that produces 260-hp and 240 lb-ft of torque. It has a continuously variable-ratio automatic transmission and front-wheel drive. Fuel economy is rated at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 24 miles per gallon on the highway. The Quest also comes in four trims – base S, SV, SL, and LE. It’s a great value. Price starts at $27,750. Any takers?