gam e changers
Peter — and producing commercials that aim to keep that brand uppermost in the consumers’ minds. “We were born and brought up with a pick and shovel, not a golden spoon,” says Ron Cardi. “We needed an in-house advertising-coined name because in the ’70s we went from being a store that changed its prices to a store that didn’t have any sales. “In doing that, coming from an Italian background of bartering for everything you buy, it was a culture shock to the company and the neighborhood,” Ron Cardi says. The Cardi brothers took “NiRoPe” from the name their Great Aunt Grace gave the rowboat they had when they were youngsters. The nickname became part of the advertising slogan — “Guaranteed Lowest NI-RO-PE prices!” — they used to reassure customers they were getting the best possible deal. The goal of the commercials is different from that slogan. It isn’t so much to
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sell furniture as to entertain viewers — at the same time reminding them that Cardi’s exists. The TV commercial that Cardi’s aired during this year’s Academy Awards ceremony was typical. It didn’t win best picture. But it did get the point across, using a soft-sell approach that other furniture pitchmen seldom employ: A married couple walks into an empty movie theater. The woman looks around. She seems to wonder what’s happening. The screen lights up, a movie comes on — it’s the story of their life together. The day they were married, the kids growing up, the time the dog ate the chair. The envelope, please. And the winner is — a gift card to Cardi’s Furniture! The happy couple leaves the theater. The camera turns around to reveal the Cardi brothers, Nick, Ron, and Peter, sitting in the row behind them. There are tears of joy in the brothers’ eyes. The Cardi’s have been making T V commercials starring themselves for a couple of decades. They have their own sound stage — a space carved out of their Swansea, MA , distribution center — a fully equipped post-production studio and a full-time radio and T V producer, Larisa Vlasov, on staff. In addition to being entertaining, the Cardis promote local charities. A typical commercial will say little or nothing about the company or its furniture, but a lot about such charities as the Heart Gallery and Ronald McDonald House. Out of the 30-second Academy Awards spot, there were only 2½ seconds that the Cardi logo was on the screen. The hope, according to Peter Cardi, is that people will watch even if they aren’t in the market to buy furniture. So that when they are ready to buy furniture, Cardi’s will be at the top of the list.
“Everyone’s out there for the consumer’s disposable dollars. Furniture is postponable.”
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John Castellucci is a former Providence Journal reporter working as a freelance writer. His work has appeared in previous issues of Bryant and in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
2011
8/3/11
8:54 PM