By Bob Vickrey
February 12, 2012
Maybe we could blame the late actor Steve McQueen for all those outlandish car commercials we watched during the recent Super Bowl for his portrayal of a daredevil policeman in the 1968 movie ‘Bullitt.’
In the classic film, McQueen’s character, Frank Bullitt, sped through the streets of San Francisco in his dark green V-8 four-speed Ford Mustang chasing the bad guys at breakneck speeds, cresting the city’s hilltop streets and careening wildly off the sides of buildings in what became the ultimate movie chase scene.
Automobile companies have always gone for the flash and glamour in portraying their cars that are fully equipped for speed and power and now seem more determined than ever to add the element of adventure and danger into the equation.
We learned during this years’ Super Bowl that the new Hyundai can outrun a Jaguar (the animal, not the car.) We watched a Chevy truck withstand the Apocalypse and a Chevy Sonic survive a bungee jump from a bridge. A Kia Optima was able to break through concrete barriers into another dimension as yet another example of the performance we now have come to expect from our automobiles.
Based on the theme of these commercials, it seems like many Americans must have loftier goals for their transportation needs than what I generally require in my daily driving. In my trips to the local post office and drug store, I cannot recall a single time when I’ve been required to crash through one brick wall or bungee jump from a bridge to reach my destination. Perhaps it’s simply the slower pace of life I’ve adopted in recent years.
I’ve always taken some perverse pleasure in driving next to some guy on the freeway in his $180,000 Porsche Turbo in congested commuter traffic at a top-end speed of eight miles an hour and knowing that he can’t go any faster than my Dodge minivan ($19,500 window sticker price.) It must be quite frustrating for this poor chump who was promised his ‘ground-jet’ could potentially reach speeds of 190 miles per hour.
We have been constantly sold on speed, power, and durability with in-your-face ads that proudly boast aggressive and downright combative attitudes in our driving habits. The auto companies’ current goal in advertising appears to be: “Who will be the last man standing?”
We’ve already been offered models like the Land Rover Defender, the Avalanche, and the Armada. Any day now I expect this contentious attitude in advertising will lead to this commercial airing soon:
The New Ford Tirade 6X is finally here! From our 600 Squander Series, this Six-Wheel Drive behemoth is sure to intimidate your neighbors—and especially those guys who kicked sand in your face back in high school. Feeling especially threatened these days? Get behind the wheel of this destructive monster and you’ll feel in charge of your life once again. At Ford, we’re not just on the cutting edge of technology—we’re also here to help you get EVEN!
What we celebrate in our commercials and what we preach to our children about safety seems to be completely at odds in the ultimate message. Every parent explains the importance of respecting speed limits and wearing safety belts. However, their kids are also getting mixed messages from watching some gray-haired dude doing ‘wheelies’ and kicking up dust clouds in his new Mustang convertible during a break in “Dancing with the Stars.”
I much prefer the recent ad in which the father is reluctantly handing the keys of the family car to his young daughter (who appears to be about three years old) and giving her last minute instructions on her first solo outing. However on second look, we see that she is now a mature young woman who is reassuring her dad that she will be a responsible driver.
Any parent fully understands that they eventually must trust their children to observe the lessons taught during childhood. We ultimately root for that young daughter to act on Dad’s loving advice and to disregard the car companies’ daredevil approach to driving.
Just for the record, I was a huge Steve McQueen fan, as was just about every other moviegoer of my era, but we need to keep in mind that he was an actor and ‘Bullitt’ was only a movie. However, since driving involves real life, it would be nice if the Madison Avenue advertising folks would finally acknowledge the distinct difference in fantasy and reality.
Bob Vickrey’s columns have appeared in the Houston Chronicle and Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. He is a member of the Board of Contributors for the Waco Tribune-Herald and a contributor to the Boryana Books website. He lives in Pacific Palisades, California.
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