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How this ex-New York Giant broke through as Hyundai's top dealer last month
In radio ads that began last fall, Brad Benson - then Hyundai's second-best-selling U.S. dealer - pledged to remain celibate until his store in rural New Jersey regained the top spot. Benson, 54 and married, can breathe a little easier now. For the first month this year, his South Brunswick, N.J., store outsold all other Hyundai outlets in October, and the ex-New York Giant's off-the-wall advertising has a lot to do with his success. For several months, Benson kept things interesting on the airwaves with ads about his love life - or lack thereof. Then he rolled out a new campaign, with a similarly risque theme. "If I was to tell you that you could come visit our dealership to see my 40-foot erection," Benson asked in a radio spot, "would you think I was just another car dealer making an exaggerated claim? "Well, check it out. I just bought one of the goal posts from the old Giants Stadium that they're tearing down, and I've erected them right here at the dealership." Benson's commercials aren't all risque. But most range from slightly askew to downright bizarre. Like offering Saddam Hussein a free car a few years back if the Iraqi dictator would step down. Other spots have skewered politicians, celebrities and professional athletes in the news. It's all part of a madcap advertising strategy that he says helps his dealership "cut through the clutter." He sells an average of 405 new Hyundais a month, almost seven times what the store sold before he began running the off-kilter commercials seven years ago. Benson was Hyundai's top monthly seller five times in 2009. Through October, he is about 700 units behind Hyundai's No. 1 store, Atlantic Hyundai of West Islip, N.Y. How does Benson, who was the starting offensive left tackle for the 1987 Super Bowl champions, come up with this stuff? Well, he's always thinking. After deciding last spring to install the goal posts from the old Meadowlands stadium, he wondered if any zoning issues would come into play. "I said to someone, 'This will be a 40-foot erection when I put these things up' - that's it!" he recalled. "A...