Have you noticed that car manufacturers are using more and more extravagant advertising techniques to sell their product? You’ve probably seen all the flashy computer-generated ads on telly (the ones which probably digitally paint out undesirable things like traffic jams etc) or if you’ve been to the cinema recently, you’ll have sat through endless versions of the same ads on the big screen. They like to project images of how luxurious and comfortable driving can be.
Now with the current economic downturn making driving expensive and the rising tide of congestion in Bristol, you’d think that it would be a great opportunity to get folks out of their comfy lounges-on-four-wheels and onto public transport. But the government have decided that taxpayer’s cash can be used for car loans and the ad campaigns continue unabated. So it’s comforting to see that someone in Easton isn’t buying into the psychology of car adverts.
Oh, and by the way Mr Chancellor, would you mind handing out some taxpayer’s cash to me so I can buy that carbon fibre road bike I fancy?.
Now with the current economic downturn making driving expensive and the rising tide of congestion in Bristol, you’d think that it would be a great opportunity to get folks out of their comfy lounges-on-four-wheels and onto public transport. But the government have decided that taxpayer’s cash can be used for car loans and the ad campaigns continue unabated. So it’s comforting to see that someone in Easton isn’t buying into the psychology of car adverts.
Oh, and by the way Mr Chancellor, would you mind handing out some taxpayer’s cash to me so I can buy that carbon fibre road bike I fancy?.
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4 comments:
?? are you really saying that the car industry isn't worth saving?
This posting was by mnpinkfloyd; he is free to make his own statements. The site exhibits no editorial control.
Personally, knowing people who used to work up in Longbridge, I know how fundamental the car industry was to the midlands for a long time. Much of that is gone, but Jaguar and Landrover do contribute there, just as Nissan do in Sunderland, Honda in Swindon.
However, Jaguar relish in their group G cars, Range-Rover are a significant occurrence in this web site. Is it appropriate to support them, given what vehicles they make? Or should we be trying to assist a transition to low-CO2 vehicles and public transport.
Over in Germany, they are trying to encourage some form of government subsidy for buying a new low-CO2 car, as it will help the environment. What happens to the older, high-CO2 cars? If they stay on the road, no benefits.
Are there any better uses we could make of the skills and manufacturing processes of the car industry other than making more cars?
I saw Ben Elton a few years back at the Bristol Hippodrome who talked about advertisers and the 'reality gap' between their ads and real life.
I noticed that car companies seem to have a reality gap as wide as the Atlantic when it comes to flogging cars. Maybe they should show the reality - jams, pollution etc. Maybe with the economic downturn we should slow down car production and divert our engineering expertise into building new train stock and buses, trams and so on for some decent public transport.
"Is it appropriate to support them, given what vehicles they make?"
By the same token, is it appropriate to support the arms or airline industry?
"should we be trying to assist a transition to low-CO2 vehicles and public transport."
Perhaps if the transport infrastructure of this country was fully integrated and had unlimited capacity this would be possible.
But in reality, if we forced everyone from their cars travel would be impossible.
Cycling would solve this, however, it is not easy to carry loads on bikes and no-one likes cycling in the rain.
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