When you move to the middle of upstate nowhere, you become privy to some seriously wacky shit. Like yesterday’s Live Bait vending machine sighting. And the daily onslaught of local Hyundai car dealer Billy Fuccillo. Maybe you’ve already caught these over the years but everyday the man barks into the camera and utters his long-time catchphrase, “It’s HUUUUUUGE!” And he really does say it that way. Actually, he says ,”It’s HUUUUGJA!” You just have to see it to believe it.
Of course it’s no surprise car dealers are famous for this sort of idiocy. But, as with all advertising, if you can latch onto something memorable, you might as well go for it. And in acknowledgment of Fuccillo’s pervasiveness, his advertising has spawned many a parody. There’s Fuccillo Blow. No One Likes Billy Fuccillo. There’s Ka-Bam from a competing dealership. There’s Fuccillo-style bible sales. And then there’s the HUUUUUGE outtakes. And make sure you don’t miss the HUUUUUGE mistake he made on air when he said, “Go fuck your wife.” No, seriously.
And then there’s the really cute girl who commonly appears with Billy in the commercials. According to Albany Times blogger Kristi Gustafson, her name is Caroline Renfro. Fuccillo hired her after seeing her in a Charlotte area Kia dealership commercial.
And then there’s the people who actually want to work for the man.
And then there’s the (sad?) fact this kind of auto dealer advertising idiocy actually works. Fucillo, with 20 dealerships and 31 franchises in New York state was the number one Kia dealership in the country in 2009 earning him membership in the Kia President’s Club.
And then there’s the fact the man treats his employees quite well, rewarding Syracuse dealership managers with a trip to Miami for exceeding his expectations during a 30 day sales promotion. He also once took the staff (and their spouse’s) of an entire dealership on a cruise becasue they met quota.
In a year, Fucillo spends about $20 million on advertising. So if you haven’t already seen his commercials, you may be seeing them soon.
