Uhhh, I really can't describe "tooth-talker" to Americans, because we don't have them, but when I lived in the UK, my wife and I noticed an odd speech impediment that many Brits have. We call it tooth-talking, for lack of a better term...it's where you can see them curling their tongue and really sticking it way out over their front teeth, causing them to lisp. Will Young, the pop star who won season one of Pop Idol, does it really bad. Jamie Oliver is the first person we noticed that does it. I don't mean to sound mean, but an American school-aged speech therapist told me there is no emphasis in the UK to fix the impediment in children (around the age of 4 or 5) like we do in the States. Not saying we are better or anything, just that we don't have it here, and a lot of people will have no idea what I mean when I say tooth-talker.
Oh, I hear you. I'm just saying, in a year from now, this will go down as one of the biggest flaming failure of an ad campaign ever. Seinfeld, while one of the greatest shows ever, is very 90s--10 years late and a dollar short.
After reading this thread (and researching some of the links), it's clear that their are "real" hybrids like the Prius and Insight, built from the ground up, with synergy drive and all that, and then there are the rest...just tack on a battery backup to an existing gas engine. After this thread, I really have no interest in the latter, as they are just attempts to cash in without much effort. Now if they would make a Ridgeline like truck from the ground up with all the cool synergy drive stuff from a Prius or Insight, that would be cool. Except for the whole part where trucks are supposed to be big and powerful--something hybrid engines definitely aren't.
What's with the Nike commercial bashing? Usually it's a really fit guy or girl doing something really athletic (biking, running, swimming, hell, even wheel-chair(ing). Considering Nike is selling stuff for the athletic lifestyle, I fail to see the problem. Maybe it's because most of you on here don't really know what being athletic entails? (I kid, I kid...kinda).
I, for one, don't measure success by people talking about what is quite possibly the worst, most off-target commercial of this century. I do expect many pink-slips and hurt advertising agency feelings, however.
This is only if you accept the idea that all publicity is good publicity, which seems to be a popular idea these days, but always seemed kinda dubious to me.
That's IT! Microsoft is tapping into the Lindsay Lohanisization/Britney Spearsification of America trend. When you've got no substance, turn yourself into a crack-whore and churn out crap--as long as the paparazzi are filming your slow demise, it's all good for a few million bucks and a few years more. (Submit Lilly Allen and Amy Winehouse for my UK friends).
Yes, because negative attention is better than no attention, after all. Because making something that works well is so much more work than just making bad commercials that get a lot of press...sigh.
It just goes to show how much Microsoft just doesn't get "it" (and by it, I mean, well life in general) and why I have a hard time associating myself with any product they produce. If they don't even have the ability to recognize their commercial is shit, how are the going to recognize their Zune is shit, or their OS is shit?
At least you get to see the cars in action, which is more than the churro munching and the shoe bending in this tripe of a commercial. I can look up the stats on a car I see on tv quite easily. I have no idea what Microsoft wants me to look up after that garbage.
They are also trying to get people to discuss the ad. In that they clearly succeeded.
My dysfunctional 12 year-old child "succeeds" in the same way as Microsoft--the whole "negative attention is better than no attention" bit and all that...
Pop Idol, complete with the same producer and Simon Cowell. The original singer (the gay tooth-talker, forget his name now) is still popular over there as well.
57%? So what? I'd venture to bet that people who buy giant SUVs are more image-concerned than Prius drivers. I'd be hard pressed to cite any car segment that only 43% of the owners didn't care about the "statement about me" that it makes.
Yes, and your 1988 Honda Accord probably had 90 hp back then too. HP and mpg are directly related. The Honda Civic HF back in the early 90s got about 60mpg because it had something ridiculous like 65 hp and all the weight was stripped from the car, making it barely livable due to road noise and harshness. All this tire pressure non-sense will have to give way, logically, once people understand how gas-powered engines actually work.
You open a new can of worms then. When you charge that thing at night, the costs go from hitting you at the pump to hitting you on your electric bill. The energy has to come from somewhere. As it stands now, I'd prefer burning a bit of gasoline and converting it to energy, like the Prius, over a 100% electric solution.
Convenience has a price. Unless every gas station in my neighborhood carries diesel, I'm not gonna buy a diesel car or truck. Also, I dislike smelling like, well, burnt diesel every where I go, regardless of how "clean" modern diesels reportedly are. They still stink and they are still loud.
they'll depreciate the same or worse than regular cars.
In the case of the Prius, made by Toyota, depreciating at the same level would be considered a good thing. A Tahoe hybrid is still going to be a piece-of-junk and will probably depreciate at the same woeful level as the gas version.
End of discussion. If everyone who posted some mis/disinformation and snarky comments about hybrid vehicles would now just show up and post their apologies for being wrong, the world will be a better place. Not that I'm any closer to buying one of those Prius eye-sores...
No dealerships have good financing. You buy the car and refinance with your bank, at least I do. The last car I bought, the dealership gave me a 7.9% APR with an 800 credit score. I refinanced with my bank for 5.5% APR.
That's not always the case. Ford and General Motors (and the Japanese brands as well) frequently have incentive financing that no credit union or bank can come close to. Tell me YOUR bank was able to give you a 1.9% loan on $25k for 5 years with a 650 credit score, and I might start to believe your post.
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Uhhh, I really can't describe "tooth-talker" to Americans, because we don't have them, but when I lived in the UK, my wife and I noticed an odd speech impediment that many Brits have. We call it tooth-talking, for lack of a better term...it's where you can see them curling their tongue and really sticking it way out over their front teeth, causing them to lisp. Will Young, the pop star who won season one of Pop Idol, does it really bad. Jamie Oliver is the first person we noticed that does it. I don't mean to sound mean, but an American school-aged speech therapist told me there is no emphasis in the UK to fix the impediment in children (around the age of 4 or 5) like we do in the States. Not saying we are better or anything, just that we don't have it here, and a lot of people will have no idea what I mean when I say tooth-talker.
Oh, I hear you. I'm just saying, in a year from now, this will go down as one of the biggest flaming failure of an ad campaign ever. Seinfeld, while one of the greatest shows ever, is very 90s--10 years late and a dollar short.
After reading this thread (and researching some of the links), it's clear that their are "real" hybrids like the Prius and Insight, built from the ground up, with synergy drive and all that, and then there are the rest...just tack on a battery backup to an existing gas engine. After this thread, I really have no interest in the latter, as they are just attempts to cash in without much effort. Now if they would make a Ridgeline like truck from the ground up with all the cool synergy drive stuff from a Prius or Insight, that would be cool. Except for the whole part where trucks are supposed to be big and powerful--something hybrid engines definitely aren't.
What's with the Nike commercial bashing? Usually it's a really fit guy or girl doing something really athletic (biking, running, swimming, hell, even wheel-chair(ing). Considering Nike is selling stuff for the athletic lifestyle, I fail to see the problem. Maybe it's because most of you on here don't really know what being athletic entails? (I kid, I kid...kinda).
I was going to vote for Microsoft having the worst fanboys, but then I realized they don't have any...
[...]it's one of the worst, most pointless ads in history.
Obviously this person has never seen any of Nike's commercials.
So says the 450 pound computer nerd still living in his parents' basement!
Oh, and you have this supposed "memo", do you?
I, for one, don't measure success by people talking about what is quite possibly the worst, most off-target commercial of this century. I do expect many pink-slips and hurt advertising agency feelings, however.
This is only if you accept the idea that all publicity is good publicity, which seems to be a popular idea these days, but always seemed kinda dubious to me.
That's IT! Microsoft is tapping into the Lindsay Lohanisization/Britney Spearsification of America trend. When you've got no substance, turn yourself into a crack-whore and churn out crap--as long as the paparazzi are filming your slow demise, it's all good for a few million bucks and a few years more. (Submit Lilly Allen and Amy Winehouse for my UK friends).
Yes, because negative attention is better than no attention, after all. Because making something that works well is so much more work than just making bad commercials that get a lot of press...sigh.
Inside jokes are only funny if you are on the inside, though.
This ad definitely fits #10 on that list...
It just goes to show how much Microsoft just doesn't get "it" (and by it, I mean, well life in general) and why I have a hard time associating myself with any product they produce. If they don't even have the ability to recognize their commercial is shit, how are the going to recognize their Zune is shit, or their OS is shit?
At least you get to see the cars in action, which is more than the churro munching and the shoe bending in this tripe of a commercial. I can look up the stats on a car I see on tv quite easily. I have no idea what Microsoft wants me to look up after that garbage.
They are also trying to get people to discuss the ad. In that they clearly succeeded.
My dysfunctional 12 year-old child "succeeds" in the same way as Microsoft--the whole "negative attention is better than no attention" bit and all that...
Pop Idol, complete with the same producer and Simon Cowell. The original singer (the gay tooth-talker, forget his name now) is still popular over there as well.
Have fun driving across town to that "at least one" gas station that carries diesel.
57%? So what? I'd venture to bet that people who buy giant SUVs are more image-concerned than Prius drivers. I'd be hard pressed to cite any car segment that only 43% of the owners didn't care about the "statement about me" that it makes.
Yes, and your 1988 Honda Accord probably had 90 hp back then too. HP and mpg are directly related. The Honda Civic HF back in the early 90s got about 60mpg because it had something ridiculous like 65 hp and all the weight was stripped from the car, making it barely livable due to road noise and harshness. All this tire pressure non-sense will have to give way, logically, once people understand how gas-powered engines actually work.
I'm very happy with my Fit, even if it is one of the stupidest names for a car I've ever heard.
It could be worse. You could live in England, where your "Fit" is called a "Jazz".
You open a new can of worms then. When you charge that thing at night, the costs go from hitting you at the pump to hitting you on your electric bill. The energy has to come from somewhere. As it stands now, I'd prefer burning a bit of gasoline and converting it to energy, like the Prius, over a 100% electric solution.
Convenience has a price. Unless every gas station in my neighborhood carries diesel, I'm not gonna buy a diesel car or truck. Also, I dislike smelling like, well, burnt diesel every where I go, regardless of how "clean" modern diesels reportedly are. They still stink and they are still loud.
they'll depreciate the same or worse than regular cars.
In the case of the Prius, made by Toyota, depreciating at the same level would be considered a good thing. A Tahoe hybrid is still going to be a piece-of-junk and will probably depreciate at the same woeful level as the gas version.
End of discussion. If everyone who posted some mis/disinformation and snarky comments about hybrid vehicles would now just show up and post their apologies for being wrong, the world will be a better place. Not that I'm any closer to buying one of those Prius eye-sores...
No dealerships have good financing. You buy the car and refinance with your bank, at least I do. The last car I bought, the dealership gave me a 7.9% APR with an 800 credit score. I refinanced with my bank for 5.5% APR.
That's not always the case. Ford and General Motors (and the Japanese brands as well) frequently have incentive financing that no credit union or bank can come close to. Tell me YOUR bank was able to give you a 1.9% loan on $25k for 5 years with a 650 credit score, and I might start to believe your post.