• by Karl Greenberg , November 5, 2010

Chevrolet today launches a new ad push for its Silverado Heavy Duty pickup truck that looks under the hood and plays with the competition. The campaign lionizes the truck's Duramax Diesel engine and Allison transmission with two characters named "Max" and "Al."

The centerpiece of the campaign, which is by Campbell-Ewald, is MaxandAl.com, a digital "man cave" for "Max" (Patrick Warburton from Seinfeld, and Rules of Engagement, and "Al" (Craig Robinson fromThe Office, Last Comic Standing). The redoubt has a pet bull, stone fireplace, firemen poles and the Silverado HD. The site focuses on the truck's fully-boxed frame, durability, and towing and payload capacity and lets people send E-cards to people who drive competitive trucks. A mobile application allows fans to share "smack talk" videos, where Max and Al explain the differences between Silverado HD and competitors.

Chevrolet says TV ads for the campaign break this weekend on NASCAR and cable programming. One of the ads show Max and Al pulling a stump, meant to demo the truck's 765 lb.-ft. of torque. Another spot is directly competitive. The campaign will run through the year, with more Max and Al creative.

"Max and Al is a fully integrated, targeted campaign that speaks directly to truck enthusiasts," said Bill Ludwig, chairman and CEO of Campbell-Ewald, in a statement. "This campaign is a complete departure from traditional heavy duty truck creative, driven by humor, to bring to light the insight of how the target relates to one another and to their truck."