Driving an SUV supports terror, new TV ads say. — SUVs have been called a lot of nasty things: gas guzzlers, road hogs, environmental menaces. Even an affront to Jesus Christ. Now, some racy U.S. television commercials call sport-utility vehicles and their owners the dirtiest name of all: Supporters of terrorism. Backers of bin Laden. Suppliants of Saddam.
While I haven’t seen these ads, they sound like typical "over the top" shock ads to me. In our media saturated world, it often takes this kind of in-your-face message to be effective.
The worst part of this story, in my opinion, is not the advertising at all, but the commentary from Auto Industry spokesperson Eron Shosteck, who says…
"I don’t understand the logic in attacking the patriotism of millions of soccer moms and farmers and ranchers who rely on SUVs to do their jobs and transport their families. Arianna’s opinion is out-voted four million to one every year by North Americans who buy SUVs for their safety, comfort and versatility."
Ummm…. gee Eron, isn’t the average family size in the US 2? Maybe add a half a dog in there, and you need an SUV for what? Certainly not carrying capacity. A mini-van or a station wagon would do. Oh… I forgot, the average soccer mom is also an off-roading enthusiast in her spare time. Darn!
And are they safer? Ever seen what happens when an SUV hits a smaller vehicle? If safety is the issue, then Detroit should invest in making everyday vehicles safer, rather than encouraging consumers to buy gas-guzzling armor plated tanks.
SUV’s are the new luxury vehicle, invented to get around the gas guzzler tax associated with the old luxury vehicles. That’s all. The fact that 4 million of them get bought a year in the US is simply a reflection of the fact that they’re cheaper to acquire and more profitable to produce, than an equivalent Cadillac.
The average family doesn’t need an SUV, despite what the auto industry wants us to believe.
