Buying the Beast Within
Oct 9th, 2008
When I watch TV, I am surprised at how many car commercials there are. I am also surprised how little the ad says about the car. The voice-over usually says something like, “Awaken the beast within.”
I suspect those companies are trying to sell the viewer an identity. It is the saddest sort of scam, because you can’t buy your identity and a new car is a really expensive way to say, “Beast Inside!”
If I made a car commercial, it would say something like “It is a four-door car with decent gas mileage. It is really reliable and did quite well in the crash tests. It is less expensive than similar cars made by other companies. And it comes in yellow!”
Some people think that because my name is on a book they bought, that I drive a Maserati. Actually, I drive an eleven-year old Toyota Camry. (We also have an aging minivan, but Michele drives that most days.) Here is a photo I took of my ride today:
Some of you probably have expensive cars that you love. I could not be more happy for you.
But times are tight. Maybe some of the young people out there are thinking about buying a car they can’t really afford. Maybe the car payments will keep them from doing something they really want to do. To those people, I’d like to point out that many cool people are quite happy driving crappy cars.
I started Big Nerd Ranch with a car-sized check, and I’ve noticed something: A nice car and a decent adventure often cost about the same amount. Few people can afford both.
I totally agree. I have prided myself over the years for being able to get by with “crappy” cars. It’s amazed me the number of times I’ve heard people moaning about their personal finances, only to find that some huge car payment is part of that nightmare.
It is amazing what the auto industry (with help from popular culture, I guess) has done to sell the idea of car as extension of personality.
When my name first got on a book with yours, I was driving an 87 Integra with over 200K miles. If it hadn’t succumbed to terminal body cancer, it’d still be with me today.
I drive a 2001 Volkswagen Beetle. The car is cute as all get out, has a HUGE hatchback and back seats that fold down, and gets 25 miles to the gallon. Oh, and it has a sunroof.
It is not a fast car or expensive car, but chicks seem to like my car.
And, it’s paid for.
When I have the NEED for SPEED, I have my new BMW motorcycle, which I love dearly.
Pictures of my bike are here….
I know which kind of commercials you mean, but I’ve noticed that at least for the German market, manufacturers also produce ads with a little more substance.
Renault, for example, prides itself on winning lots of security awards for their cars and showcases this in some of their ads, such as this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrcAuoMNAHY
Audi has a pretty good record of doing great commercials which usually focus on a single feature of the car, often their “quattro” 4WD technology. Recently, I’ve seen a new Audi ad which focuses on gas mileage, though I cannot find a YouTube link right now.
Commercials aside, I know what you’re talking about. When I got my driver’s license at age 18, I immediately spent my savings on a car. It was a used car, but in very good condition and I mainly liked it for the nice-looking aluminium rims and its engine size and didn’t think about qualities such as gas mileage, security and reliability.
Today I know that I could have done way better things with that money, if I had bought a different kind of car. But young adults sometimes need to make these experiences to find it out for themselves. And they will do so with or without advertising.
And by the way, I don’t even have a car nowadays. I live directly in the center of a big city and I have a 10 minute walk to work.
Cheers,
Alex
I’m really proud of having two PAID-OFF cars, even if they’re 6-8 years old. In this economy, the last thing I need is a car payment.
I think tag lines like: “Awaken the beast within” are directly appealing to the psychographic, which is proven to be the marketing sweet spot. So, while the line might not resonate with you, I would guess that it produces the most bang for the buck since it reaches across lines like geography, ethnicity, gender and age.
Should new car commercials be targeting you if you pride yourself in not having new stuff?
PS. I don’t like cars.
This is an interesting topic, and one which I personally can’t relate to whatsoever. My neighbors (all of whom live on subsidized housing) seem to not only buy very shiny, new cars, but also take really good care of them. Often I will see them outside, washing their cars several times a month! Maybe this is normal, maybe I’m just out of touch with society, but it just strikes me as odd that someone who will pay so much unnecessary attention to their vehicle will also seem to pay so little attention the interior of their own apartments. My wife and I have come up with a theory that your car – along with your shoes, for some people – does in fact represent *who you are* (much like this blog posting says), and hence when you leave your house, you are entirely someone else.
Actually, what strikes me about modern autos is how they all look almost exactly the same. It’s as if, about a decade ago, all automakers decided to design cars that would look most like their competitors. Thus, for me the irony is that “the beast within” line is pitched for cars that all look very much like a very normal sedan. Maybe all their customers have the same beast within. Maybe it’s a wombat.
Okay, that covers it. I gotta call my mechanic and see if he’s been able to find the spark plugs on my ’93 RX7.