Give me the Car Fax, not the Car Fox

Recently, Carfax debuted it's new trade character, the Car Fox. The extent of his exposure is simply asking people to "Get the Car Fax" at the end of their commercials. I think this trade character in particular is gimmicky and, frankly, a bit cheesy.


The creators of the Car Fox simply changed one letter of their brand name, which they may've thought would make the character easy to remember. To me, this reads as unoriginal and lazy because people wouldn't necessarily relate an online vehicle report company to a fox. The fox is not representational of their brand goals in that they share none of the same characteristics.


A fox would generally be associated with a brand that may be selling surveillance or spy equipment, recalling to customer's minds the adage "Sly as a fox." Or a brand focused on speed like the Fox racing company.

I also think the Car Fax brand was trying to imitate the success of the Geico Gecko. I credit this success to the use of the gecko without referring to the obvious similarity of the brand name and the trade character. Instead, the brand allowed the audience to see the connection between the two.

The Car Fox has his name plastered on his t-shirt. The name use may lead the  audience to believe that the brand doesn't think they could make the association themselves, which is offensive.

I believe a brand should only use a trade character when the character accurately reflects the core value of the brand rather than being a gimmick. Or,  when the brand trade character can be easily associated with the brand in the audience's mind- without having to state the obvious.

Instead, the company could've used an animal that could relate to the necessity of car facts. For instance: a flying squirrel who says "Always look before you leap, get your Car Fax." This way, they are tying the advantage of viewing Car Fax to the importance of Maslow's financial and safety needs, while maintaining their use of a trade character.