Are you a speed freak?... auto marketing ploys ...

[anniemcu]

This and other Commentaries are a premium sent to Sustainer Donors of Z/ZNet. To learn more folks can consult ZNet at http://www.zmag.org

Today's commentary:
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/ ... issman.cfm

==================================

ZNet Commentary
Are You A Speed Freak? September 22, 2005
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman

Are you a speed freak?

That's what Daimler Chrysler wants to know.

Everything about their current campaign pushing the new Dodge Charger is about speed and power.

We learned about this campaign last week. We picked up USA Today, and out dropped a glossy 23-inch-by-21-inch color poster.

On one side is a picture of the Charger SRT8. 425 horsepower. 6.1 Liter SRT Hemi V8 engine. 420 lb-ft of torque. 0 to 60 mph in the low 5 seconds. (The low 5 seconds?)

"Grab Life by the Horns," it said at the top.

Then in bigger letters at the bottom: "Get Your Adrenaline Out of Neutral."

Flip over the glossy ad, and there is a picture of Charger R/T in red.

And the question, emblazoned in red: "Are you a speed freak?

The ad encourages you to go to .

So, we went there.

And clicked on "power freak." There is an animation of a Charger R/T ripping through some road barriers and fencing.

We then clicked on "speed freak." To the music of the Soledad Brothers, (Break Em On Down), we learn that the car is "wickedly fast -- a sleek fastback silhouette slips through the wind as pure, unadulterated speed crescendos from one adrenaline rush to the next."

Back to the glossy ad that dropped out of USA Today.

Also, in large letters is the following: "Remember, Speed Limits Are Laws, Not Suggestions."

We reached Suraya Da Sante, a corporate spokeswoman, at Daimler's home office in Detroit.

"The ad campaign is not necessarily about speed per se," she says. "It's more about unleashing your desires."

What about the 0 to 60 mph in the low 5 seconds?

"We certainly don't want to encourage someone to do that on 0 to 60 on a residential street or even a highway," she says. "If you want to do that, there are racing tracks around where you can take the car."

Racing tracks?

"Yes, there are places where you can take your car to race," Da Sante says.

The whole ad campaign is about power and speed. Why insult our intelligence and say, "Remember, Speed Limits Are Laws, Not Suggestions?"

Well, it's never appropriate to break the law -- laws are there to protect us, she says.

Da Sante says she isn't sure whether Daimler's legal department required that they put that statement in the ad.

She says that the demographic for the Charger is a 40-to-59-year-old male, married with two kids, income from $65,000 to $90,000, and living in the suburbs of a large city. She says that the psychographic is someone who is confident, self-expressive, genuine and enterprising.

What about the video on the web site, with the driver knocking down barriers and ripping through fences?

"That is an animated video," she says. "It is clearly fantasy. It's not real people ripping down a road. It is more like a game. Gaming graphics are popular. It is not a television commercial where it is a real vehicle and someone is launching a vehicle 20 feet in the air. They were designed to get you excited and tap into that untamed spirit."

The campaign is more than just speed, she says.

The theme of the ad campaign: unleash.

The ideal customer is someone who wants to liberate their untamed spirit, she says.

They are looking for ways to go out and grab life by the horns.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton signed a law revoking the national 55 mph speed limit.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that one act by President Clinton has cost thousands of lives.

Richard Retting of the Institute says. "When speed limits are raised, it's no surprise that drivers go faster, and when drivers go faster, there are more deaths."

Retting says that the auto companies are just adding fuel to the fire.

He says that the DaimlerChrysler ad "encourages reckless, irresponsible driving."

But the ad says -- right there in large print - "Remember, Speed Limits Are Laws, Not Suggestions."

"Are they saying -- we didn't mean what we just said?" Retting asks.

Retting says that there were 41,000 deaths on U.S. highways last year.

At least a third of them are due to speeding.

That's at least 13,000 deaths per year due to speeding.

That would be four 911s.

Every year.

Due to speeding.

And irresponsible ads like the DaimlerChrysler ad are just fueling the fire.

Bloody Daimler.

Bloody Chrysler.

Bloody Dodge.

Bloody Charger.

[chas]

Not to mention the additional gas (read "reliance on foreign oil") that high speeds use. I wish I could remember the number, but I think you use something like 40% more fuel at 70 than at 55 mph. I knew someone years ago who had a Plymouth Road Runner, with a similar engine to the Charger R/T (425 cubic inch Hemi, 427 horsepower). He'd take it out and do 80 or 90 on the highway and said he could see the needle of the gas gauge creeping down.

[The Weekenders]

I sure don't know why anybody needs 425 HP in a passenger car.. I think the new 300 (Chrysler?) has 450. A killin' machine. Here in the Bay Area you can pay for the privilege of driving your monster machine at the average freeway speed of probably 30mph given traffic....

[Tyler]

First and foremost....
the author of this article has probably never been faster than 55mph and has never, ever been in a fast car.
Second, the author does not understand what it means to "go 0-60 in the low 5's"...(this is in refference to the car's ability to accelerate from dead stop to 60mph in less than 5.4 seconds.) This is a common term in the automotive industry, among horsepower freaks (like myself) the term is as common as the word "horsepower" itself...the author, being unfamiliar with the terms in question, should not be considered a reliable source for information regarding the application of the term in question.
I have personally seen the add in question...the people moaning about this ought to go back to pissing and whining about Beavis and Butthead lighting fires.
Lastly, having a fast car does not make the owner an irresponsible driver. Ok, let me back up a bit...having a car with the reputation of being fast or a fast image does not make the owner an irresponsible driver. I'm putting the finishing touches on my race Mini. It has a Honda V-tech engine (supercharged) that I just dropped in and a nice shot of nitrous...I haven't had it dynoed yet but it runs the quarter mile in the high tens/low elevens with drag slicks. On the street with street tires it rockets to 60 mph in just over three seconds...a might bit faster than any Charger anyone here knows of...but because of it's "cute" image no one ever imagines that I might be an irresponsible driver (I'm not)! Quite to the contrary, in fact! However if I drive my race-prepped Eagle Talon on the street, people assume that I am an irresponsible, dangerous driver who will probably cause someone a serious accident...
It's not the capability for speed that causes reckless driving, its the lack of maturity to control oneself and one's automobile that causes deadly speeds and reckless driving.
What I want to know is why this author has not started a campaign against the Corvette/Caddilac sportscars...they push more horsepower and are less stable on the road than the Charger is, and are built out of less sturdy materials; according to this author's wisdom they have more of a capability of causing accidents than the charger! Now lets look at their advertising campaigns, which have been more aggressive. hell, there has even been a comercial depicting a kid driving the new corvette! According to the author's logic, this can be construed as telling kids that driving below the age of licensability is ok.

Sorry for the rant, but as most of you know I'm quite passionate about my cars, and when someone wants to make accusations based on their own biases and predjudices without all their nuts and bolts tightened down, it gets under my skin.

[djm]

As an avid speed freak I would refute some of this effeminate hand-wringing. Speed does not cause more deaths. Poor drivers who get in the way cause more deaths. Poor drivers are terrified of speed. They are terrified of changing lanes. When forced by traffic to move into a faster lane they don't move back into the slow lane. They clog the passing lanes. Even our highway police here note this. I can make better time driving in the slow lane because it is empty. All the passing lanes are clogged by these terrible drivers, who have no business being on the highways in the first place, and should probably be taking the bus.

djm

[anniemcu]

First and foremost....
the author of this article has probably never been faster than 55mph and has never, ever been in a fast car.
Second, the author does not understand what it means to "go 0-60 in the low 5's"...(this is in refference to the car's ability to accelerate from dead stop to 60mph in less than 5.4 seconds.) This is a common term in the automotive industry, among horsepower freaks (like myself) the term is as common as the word "horsepower" itself...the author, being unfamiliar with the terms in question, should not be considered a reliable source for information regarding the application of the term in question.
I have personally seen the add in question...the people moaning about this ought to go back to pissing and whining about Beavis and Butthead lighting fires.
Lastly, having a fast car does not make the owner an irresponsible driver. Ok, let me back up a bit...having a car with the reputation of being fast or a fast image does not make the owner an irresponsible driver. I'm putting the finishing touches on my race Mini. It has a Honda V-tech engine (supercharged) that I just dropped in and a nice shot of nitrous...I haven't had it dynoed yet but it runs the quarter mile in the high tens/low elevens with drag slicks. On the street with street tires it rockets to 60 mph in just over three seconds...a might bit faster than any Charger anyone here knows of...but because of it's "cute" image no one ever imagines that I might be an irresponsible driver (I'm not)! Quite to the contrary, in fact! However if I drive my race-prepped Eagle Talon on the street, people assume that I am an irresponsible, dangerous driver who will probably cause someone a serious accident...
It's not the capability for speed that causes reckless driving, its the lack of maturity to control oneself and one's automobile that causes deadly speeds and reckless driving.
What I want to know is why this author has not started a campaign against the Corvette/Caddilac sportscars...they push more horsepower and are less stable on the road than the Charger is, and are built out of less sturdy materials; according to this author's wisdom they have more of a capability of causing accidents than the charger! Now lets look at their advertising campaigns, which have been more aggressive. hell, there has even been a comercial depicting a kid driving the new corvette! According to the author's logic, this can be construed as telling kids that driving below the age of licensability is ok.

Sorry for the rant, but as most of you know I'm quite passionate about my cars, and when someone wants to make accusations based on their own biases and predjudices without all their nuts and bolts tightened down, it gets under my skin.

Beavis and Butthead were fictional idiots being fictionally goaded into fictional stupidity. This sort of advertizing is aimed at 'real' people, enough of who are really stupid enough to fall for it, as advertising tends to do pretty comprehensive research into just who they get to part with enough money to make it worthwile ... if the fool drivers only took themselves off the face of the planet, I wouldn't have much problem with it, but it's not a 'victimless' thing at all. Sure, some folks are ... dare I say it?... mature enough to know better than to floor the thing and pretend to be racecar drivers on the public roadways, but many, far too many, are not. The ads that tout this behavior are every bit, if not even more irresponsible than the people who choose to behave that way. If you've never dealt with the aftermath of an auto wreck, maybe it doesn't seem so bad, but if you've watched the life bleed out of someone for a stupid mistake, especially someone else's mistake, it is pretty darned maddening. The mentality that says seatbelts and speedlimits are for sissies is not the same group of people cleaning up the messes.

Edited to add... I think it is the advertizing campaign even more than the ridiculous speed capacity of the car (given that the highest legal speed on highways in the US is 75mhp http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:fz ... n+US&hl=en) is the target of the writier's wrath. It is a pretty idiotic approach, given that very few people can afford to invest in a race car for the track, and there is no honestly good reason to have one for the street.

You know what you are talking about, I don't doubt, but so do I, and so does the writer. We each have details we could tweek, but the main point is one I don't think you will really argue -= not very many people belong behind the wheel of a car like that on the public roadways, and fewer on the track. The obvious goal of the ad is to get people to part with money, and lots of it, for something they only dream they need... but that is a whole 'nuther rant.

[The Weekenders]

Too many people in my home state anymore. Every road is crowded and with this density, the devil-may-care of driving fast has to be tempered with reality. I am neither a hand-wringer or a ninny on this, but the best thing if you want to race is to go find an amateur track.

[Tyler]

Beavis and Butthead were fictional idiots being fictionally goaded into fictional stupidity....

...that people claimed made kids set fire to things.

This sort of advertizing is aimed at 'real' people, enough of who are really stupid enough to fall for it, as advertising tends to do pretty comprehensive research into just who they get to part with enough money to make it worthwile ... if the fool drivers only took themselves off the face of the planet, I wouldn't have much problem with it, but it's not a 'victimless' thing at all.

I certainly did not say that it was victimless...

Sure, some folks are ... dare I say it?... mature enough to know better than to floor the thing and pretend to be racecar drivers on the public roadways, but many, far too many, are not.

I build, own and race cars...which category do I get to be in?

The ads that tout this behavior are every bit, if not even more irresponsible than the people who choose to behave that way.

I just can't tell you how many times I've been forced against my will into reckless behavior by a car ad.

If you've never dealt with the aftermath of an auto wreck, maybe it doesn't seem so bad, but if you've watched the life bleed out of someone for a stupid mistake, especially someone else's mistake, it is pretty darned maddening. The mentality that says seatbelts and speedlimits are for sissies is not the same group of people cleaning up the messes.

...nowhere did I make light of that.
I've known people killed racing, I've known people killed on the street. (in fact, the woman I know who was killed on the road was killed by a f****ing minivan driver!)
You cant categorize and quantify or even predict someone's behavior based on a car ad. It's unfortunate that you know so many foolish and irresponsible drivers, but the gist of that article is to illustrate that no one can be trusted with a high horsepower machine if it is advertised as such.

[missy]

I'm gonna have to join in with Tyler on this one........

The people that could AFFORD this car aren't going to be the ones driving 100mph on a busy highway, weaving in and out of traffic. Or the ones driving 45 mph on a busy highway, clogging up the traffic (like my ex MIL does). Someone that can afford this car isn't going to be using it to haul around the kids or get groceries or mulch. They are going to use it to DRIVE - and they are going to be careful doing it. Same with a 'Vette.

Now - if you want to talk about 18 year olds driving "Rice Burners" - that's a whole 'nother story. But they won't be driving this particular car, either.

As to going to the track, my son DID go there many times ($10 gives you three runs and a turn in the burn out pit). However, with the truck he did consistant 18.4, 18.4, 18.4........ (basically flooring it and going from there!).

The wrecks I've seen the aftermath of (and I have seen a few) are almost always someone driving a "normal" car too fast for the road conditions. Not since the days of 60's muscle cars have I seen a wreck with a supercharged engine like this - people that can buy them take VERY good care of them!!!!

I still want my '63 hard top convertible 'Vette..........

[Tyler]

Go an' get that Vette, Missy
(ps, my dad just bought a 65 Mustang GT fastback from Texas this week...very cool, all original condition, original interior too...showroom condition.)

anywhoo, though, I'm going to bow out of this one, though...I'd rather not risk offending any more of my friends here than I probably have!

"Loudmouth out"