New Chevy Traverse commercial has roots in Allegan

By Gari Voss

How did the Allegan area filming happen?
Homeowner and realtor Carol Sneller reminisced, “Dave, the production manager was in our development and literally walked up to our front door and knocked. He asked if we would be interested. We actually turned him down because we thought it was a scam. He convinced us with backing from the sheriff’s department plus he had spoken with our homeowner’s association. We finally believed him, and thought ‘Yeah, that would be kind of fun.’”
Sneller shared that they spent a day in the driveway. “On the footage I found, you can actually hear our dog, Zoe, barking in the background.”
When the shooting began, Sneller explained, “There was actually a family of five from Canada that acts in commercial – a mom, dad, 2 girls and a boy. Most of the interior shots and some of the exterior shots were done in the drive showing the family of actors leaving the house as if they were going on a camping trip.”
The Sneller family had to promise not to talk about the commercial or take any pictures since the car had not been officially unveiled. The neighbors had to be informed because of about 34 or so vehicles coming and going all day long. The Traverse were always covered except during filming.
“There was some footage taken of the father and son going down to and on the community dock, so the Association had to approve some of the filming. Because of this, additional residents knew about the commercial,” Sneller expanded on the have-to-know people.
When friends told Sneller that they had seen the commercial on television, she went exploring online and was able to see longer segments of footage with no background narration.
As 2024 approaches, more information and Allegan footage will be seen across the televisions of the world. There is already a segment in Japanese.
The 2024 Traverse will be build in Lansing at the Delta Township Assembly plant.