Here’s the narration:
“You’re driving down the freeway doing about 60 when you notice the guy next to you steering with his knees and eating a cheeseburger and talking on the phone; and that is exactly why the all new 09 f-150 is the safest truck in America…”
After the few specs the ad ends with: “…because it’s not just crazy out there; it’s certifiably insane.”

My reaction: Oh! and why is Ford trying to convince us that we need a tank in order to survive today's road conditions? Also, the advert reminded me of my road-raging commuting days and my traffic-jam inspired daydreams of owning a bad-assed Hummer equipped with anti-tank rockets, several machine guns, and a v-shaped plough so then maybe I could be in my office 10 minutes ago without having to deal with all those morons!!! Admit it; you’ve also had this fantasy once or twice.
And is it me or do the colours, images, and floating texts also remind you of the post-apocalyptic backdrop in “The Road Warrior 2”?

My big question is: how does Ford guarantee that these ‘insane’ knee-steering, cheeseburger-eating, phone-talking people don’t wind up behind the wheel of one of these babies??? It's fine if we happen to plough through idiot drivers like a tank through a haystack if they should f*ck up; but what happens when drunk, F-150-driving rednecks lose control and ram non-idiot drivers?
Or is that what they mean by ‘certifiably insane?’ If you got one of those certificates that says you're insane, you don’t get to drive an F-150? No wonder the ‘multi-tasking jerk’ is driving a car (wonder if it’s a Ford? Can’t tell from the camera angle); Does Hummer have the same policy?!

But if everyone was driving smaller cars, wouldn't that be safer? Of course, eighteen-wheelers are still up for consideration but not much stands a chance against those anyway...

I really wonder which came first? this ad concept or all the politicized, lobby-greased puff pieces that have appeared these past months throughout the U.S., claiming bigger cars are safer and electric cars have big hidden costs; or was it Barack Obama’s decision to boost fuel economy standards for cars by using a size-based system that removes incentives for automakers to manufacture only smaller models.… Is the government simply looking out for its newly acquired stocks? Or is all of that part of the same ad campaign, dreamed up and paid for by…??? Hmmm… I'm sure I smell oil and my gut tells me Dick Cheney is in on this somehow... Well, Cheney-like thinking anyhow.

And when you look at this or other commercials produced by the ‘Big 3’ and consider their production costs, we certainly don’t get an image of companies whose very survival relies on huge government handouts and pity from potential customers. Yes; pity, from stupid pride! Because—and I hate to say it—it sure as hell isn’t leadership and a truly competitive product that has kept these 3 in business; it’s some strange sense of ol’ world and post war partisanship, the kind that borders on racism and impassioned patriotism. National pride is ok but in this case Americans have to realize that, according to the great rules of capitalism which they've pretty much established, they lost the auto-industry war!

So, since I’m on the subject: how can these companies still invest millions upon millions in R&D and concept cars that’ll never pass through a production line when tremendous pensions are on the line? Is developing future technology really going to help companies that have a very limited future? And how can they still be tinkering with so many models and styles and obsessing over setting fashion-industry-like trends every year? It's as if they haven't yet figured out what their public wants!!! Car makers from other continents seem to have a better understanding of the North American market. How can that be?

Are people really buying functional pick-ups to feel safe or is this just a spin-attempt to sell an overproduced line to a different demographic? Or, are the company heads outdated and stubborn to the point that they still believe in their self-proclaimed divinity and that if they decide to produce more trucks, Americans will buy trucks for the reasons they’ll tell us?
The 'ol' boys club' mentality that’s directing the ‘Big 3’ automakers still seems to be dominating. But their time has come and their 'empires' are crumbling. Not surprising! This advert clearly demonstrates that even today, they are barely willing to change their course and adopt the attitude they should have adopted some thirty-odd years ago...

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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