The Most Annoying Car Salesman in Billings? Meet Freddy Fowler
His radio commercials are everywhere, all the time.
The words "get excited" have never been heard so much in the Billings area before, and it's all because of one man. His name is Freddy Fowler. You'd be living under a rock if you haven't heard his commercials that play all day, every day on just about every radio station in Billings (full disclosure, including this Townsquare Media Billings station). The dealership is spending a small fortune on the "get excited" branding campaign.
The ads are wacky. Sometimes borderline offensive.
With a voice and delivery that's been compared to Charlie Sheen, Fowlers' radio commercials sound almost nothing like traditional car lot advertisements. They rarely talk much about specific cars or deals. Instead, they usually sound like a random string of thoughts that always end with his catchphrase. He'll mention bubba trucks, his speedo, your mother-in-law, scoring dates with a new pickup, being the mayor, his buddy "Elon" and other craziness. Get Excited.
So, who is the real Freddy Fowler?
I was genuinely curious about the dude. Is he for real? How does he come up with this stuff? Does it bother him that many people hate his ads? Do the non-stop commercials actually work? We stopped by his office a month or so ago and here's what followed. You can listen to the interview in its entirety at the bottom of this article.
Q: Where did Freddy Fowler come from?
"Long story short, my whole life I've been a snowbird. [I'm] from Michigan and when I turned 20 years old I moved to Florida because I wanted a tan. And then somehow I got talked into coming up here to Billings, Montana." Fowler frequently pronounces the state like, "Montanya."
Q: What were you like as a child?
"I had a rat tail. A Joe Dirt lookin' mullet. That was pretty exciting as a child. Dropped out of school in the 8th grade, true story. Worked my butt off. Everything I've wanted, I've always had to work for it."
Q: How did you come up with "get excited"?
"It's my catchphrase. There are so many things you can get excited about... I don't know you, you don't know me but you can get excited about sex, drugs and rock-n-roll or you can get excited about Jesus. Everybody has their own Get Excited moment. And when you buy a car, why the hell are you NOT excited?" Fowler said he owns the catchphrase. He's even got plans to offer blue jeans that have "get excited" stitched on the inside of the zipper.
Q: What's up with the speedo infatuation?
"I just want to clear the record. I have said so much trash talking, but one thing about me is that if I trash talk, I will back it up. I don't look good in a speedo, I don't want to look good in a speedo, and I don't even want to do the speedo. But I've said it so much, I've kind of shamed myself into the speedo."
We chatted for a few more minutes about various topics. Take a listen and find out about people who stop by the dealership just to tell Freddy they hate him, hear about his latest personal project that involves the purchase of a local golf course, and if he's really interested in running for public office.
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