How do you guys like that Saturn ad?

[Trudi Marrapodi]

Anyone seen the ad for that one Saturn model that plugs its dent-resistant
finish? A series of "things" are shown crashing into a parked Saturn,
including (as if it were just another "object") a cyclist. He crashes into
the car, flips over and hits his (helmeted) head against the hood as he
gets flung onto it.

The message of the ad: It doesn't matter what your car collides with, the
finish won't have a scratch or dent afterward.

I thought to myself: Would they have shown a pedestrian running into the
car and getting flung up onto the hood? No. Would they have shown a child
on a bike (even one in a helmet) cracking into the car and getting flipped
over and flung onto the hood? No.

But it's perfectly OK to present an adult cyclist--at least a helmeted
one, I guess--as just another obstacle that your car might happen to
collide with (or that might happen to collide with your car...hmm, wonder
why), but be reassured not to worry, he will slide right off your hood
without leaving a mark.

Please. Tell me I'm not the only one who gets angry watching this! I'm
sure the auto manufacturer's excuse is "It's very clear in the ad that the
accident is the cyclist's fault because he slams into a parked car (yeah,
like most cyclists have a problem avoiding parked cars). We're not
encouraging any driver to think of adult cyclists as just another nuisance
they might run into on the road that might scratch or dent their car."

Yeah. Sure. They show a cyclist in quick cuts with other "objects" such as
shopping carts and so on. Yeah, he's just another "thing" that might ruin
the finish of the car owner's precious baby by catapulting himself over
its hood.

Sigh...
--
Trudi

"Cleveland still rocks."--Me

[Robert Haston]

I'd be mad about it, except idiot wrong-way cyclists ramming cars isn't
uncommon.


"Trudi Marrapodi" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone seen the ad for that one Saturn model that plugs its dent-resistant
> finish? A series of "things" are shown crashing into a parked Saturn,
> including (as if it were just another "object") a cyclist. He crashes into
> the car, flips over and hits his (helmeted) head against the hood as he
> gets flung onto it.
>
> The message of the ad: It doesn't matter what your car collides with, the
> finish won't have a scratch or dent afterward.
>
> I thought to myself: Would they have shown a pedestrian running into the
> car and getting flung up onto the hood? No. Would they have shown a child
> on a bike (even one in a helmet) cracking into the car and getting flipped
> over and flung onto the hood? No.
>
> But it's perfectly OK to present an adult cyclist--at least a helmeted
> one, I guess--as just another obstacle that your car might happen to
> collide with (or that might happen to collide with your car...hmm, wonder
> why), but be reassured not to worry, he will slide right off your hood
> without leaving a mark.
>
> Please. Tell me I'm not the only one who gets angry watching this! I'm
> sure the auto manufacturer's excuse is "It's very clear in the ad that the
> accident is the cyclist's fault because he slams into a parked car (yeah,
> like most cyclists have a problem avoiding parked cars). We're not
> encouraging any driver to think of adult cyclists as just another nuisance
> they might run into on the road that might scratch or dent their car."
>
> Yeah. Sure. They show a cyclist in quick cuts with other "objects" such as
> shopping carts and so on. Yeah, he's just another "thing" that might ruin
> the finish of the car owner's precious baby by catapulting himself over
> its hood.
>
> Sigh...
> --
> Trudi
>
> "Cleveland still rocks."--Me

[Mong Yek]

"Trudi Marrapodi" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone seen the ad for that one Saturn model that plugs its dent-resistant
>
> But it's perfectly OK to present an adult cyclist--at least a helmeted
> one, I guess--as just another obstacle that your car might happen to
> collide with (or that might happen to collide with your car...hmm, wonder
> why), but be reassured not to worry, he will slide right off your hood
> without leaving a mark.
>

Cars are bigger, faster, more massive that bicycles, so when a bicycle runs
into a Car, which is most often the case, the Bicycle flips over the car.
As a Bicyclist you need to accept this, and your inferior position in terms
of Physics on the street.
Just accept that Cars are more massive, and through their weight around.
Get angry, you'll be dead soon.

[Paul Cassel]

Trudi Marrapodi wrote:

> Anyone seen the ad for that one Saturn model that plugs its dent-resistant
> finish? A series of "things" are shown crashing into a parked Saturn,
> including (as if it were just another "object") a cyclist. He crashes into
> the car, flips over and hits his (helmeted) head against the hood as he
> gets flung onto it.
>
Anybody who buys a Saturn for any reason at any price is stupid enough
not to be troubled by that ad. What next - will Goodyear show a bike
being run over and crushed by the same car and then brag that you can
run over 100 bikes before getting a flat?

-paul

[Karen M.]

Mong Yek wrote:

> Cars are bigger, faster, more massive that bicycles, so when a bicycle runs
> into a Car, which is most often the case, the Bicycle flips over the car.
> As a Bicyclist you need to accept this, and your inferior position in terms
> of Physics on the street.
> Just accept that Cars are more massive, and through their weight around.
> Get angry, you'll be dead soon.

Trudi's point, completely missed herein, was that cyclists are
people, not just propulsion mechanisms for Things That Might Scratch
Your Valuable Paint Job such as shopping carts.
It's strange to read this commercial's synopsis, since my mind is
full of adverts showing cars and stairs and mailboxes and peletons and
little kids in a hospital waving, all featuring some cyclist who could
wear a different yellow shirt every day for two months.
Shall we contact Saturn? Sometimes a company's ad agencies aren't
even communicating with their marketing department.
HTH

--Karen M.
doesn't Saturn still sponsor a cycling team?

[Karen M.]

Found this on another cycling website:

http://www.saturn.com/saturn/contactus/customer/index.jsp?nav=4200


You're welcome!

--Karen M.

[Raoul Duke]

"Paul Cassel" > wrote in message
...

> Anybody who buys a Saturn for any reason at any price is stupid enough
> not to be troubled by that ad. What next - will Goodyear show a bike
> being run over and crushed by the same car and then brag that you can
> run over 100 bikes before getting a flat?

Huh? What's the big deal about Saturns?

Dave

[Trudi Marrapodi]

In article et>, "Robert
Haston" > wrote:

> I'd be mad about it, except idiot wrong-way cyclists ramming cars isn't
> uncommon.

Yeah, but this guy isn't a 40-year-old riding his 10-year-old's little
bike (to my experience, what most of these wrong-way guys look like). He's
tricked out in a helmet and cycling clothes a la Armstrong. Not likely to
be representing a wrong-way Corrigan.
--
Trudi

"Cleveland still rocks."--Me

[Trudi Marrapodi]

In article >, "Mong Yek" > wrote:

> "Trudi Marrapodi" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Anyone seen the ad for that one Saturn model that plugs its dent-resistant
> >
> > But it's perfectly OK to present an adult cyclist--at least a helmeted
> > one, I guess--as just another obstacle that your car might happen to
> > collide with (or that might happen to collide with your car...hmm, wonder
> > why), but be reassured not to worry, he will slide right off your hood
> > without leaving a mark.
> >
>
> Cars are bigger, faster, more massive that bicycles, so when a bicycle runs
> into a Car, which is most often the case, the Bicycle flips over the car.
> As a Bicyclist you need to accept this, and your inferior position in terms
> of Physics on the street.
> Just accept that Cars are more massive, and through their weight around.
> Get angry, you'll be dead soon.

And you miss the point--which is to protest the whole "might makes right"
attitude that many drivers seem to have about cyclists.
--
Trudi

"Cleveland still rocks."--Me

[Trudi Marrapodi]

In article >, "Ken [NY)"
> wrote:

[snip]

> I am sure that others were angered, but it never occurred to
> me until you mentioned it. It's advertising, plain and simple. Make
> believe.

It reflects societal attitudes, though. And that bothers me.

> >Yeah. Sure. They show a cyclist in quick cuts with other "objects" such as
> >shopping carts and so on. Yeah, he's just another "thing" that might ruin
> >the finish of the car owner's precious baby by catapulting himself over
> >its hood.
> >
> >Sigh...
>
> Good day. Or as John Kerry would say, bonjour.
>
> Ken (NY)
>
> "I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when
> the President made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact
> that we did disarm him."
> --John F. Kerry (ABC News, 5/4/03)

Could you keep the politics out of it, please? Thanks. (And for the
record, I'd say the same if you were supporting Kerry, the Queen, or
Zontar from another planet.)
--
Trudi

"Cleveland still rocks."--Me

[Paul Cassel]

Raoul Duke wrote:
> "Paul Cassel" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>
>>Anybody who buys a Saturn for any reason at any price is stupid enough
>>not to be troubled by that ad. What next - will Goodyear show a bike
>>being run over and crushed by the same car and then brag that you can
>>run over 100 bikes before getting a flat?
>
>
> Huh? What's the big deal about Saturns?
>
> Dave
>
True junk through and through. Rumor has it that GM was tired of
finishing last in all multi car comparo's done by the car rags so they
put 2 billion to make Saturn so that would finish last.

Most folks today know that Saturn is GM. Thus the ploy failed.

-paul



--
paul DOT cassel aT
gMail dot COM

[Automator]

> Just accept that Cars are more massive, and through their weight around.
> Get angry, you'll be dead soon.

Way to be the Uncle Tom of the cycling community jackass.

I for one will be slashing the tires of every Saturn I see.

[alan]

What's a cyclist doing crashing into a PARKED car? How is that an
indictment of the car company? If a cycling dumbass can't avoid a large
stationary object, he should consider some other mode of transportation.

--

alan

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."


"Trudi Marrapodi" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone seen the ad for that one Saturn model that plugs its dent-resistant
> finish? A series of "things" are shown crashing into a parked Saturn,
> including (as if it were just another "object") a cyclist. He crashes into
> the car, flips over and hits his (helmeted) head against the hood as he
> gets flung onto it.
>
> The message of the ad: It doesn't matter what your car collides with, the
> finish won't have a scratch or dent afterward.
>

[Claire Petersky]

"alan" > wrote in message
...
> What's a cyclist doing crashing into a PARKED car?

I almost ran into a dumpster once in an alley. Did I ever feel like an
idiot.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

[Mitch Haley]

alan wrote:
>
> What's a cyclist doing crashing into a PARKED car? How is that an
> indictment of the car company?

The car company HIRED the cyclist to crash into a parked car for
an advertisement. The idea being that idiot cyclists will crash
into your car, so you need a plastic car to prevent dents from
all the stupid cyclists. That is what some people find offensive.

Mitch.

[alan]

Well, there certainly are plenty of stupid cyclists out there, just as there
are stupid motorists, stupid shopping cart users, and stupid pedestrians.
In that sense, the ad addresses reality. Are you trying to say that there
are no idiot cyclists? Because I'd have to disagree with that, if only
because my own son managed to crash his bicycle into a parked car, doing
$700 in damage.

--

alan

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."


"Mitch Haley" > wrote in message
...

>
> The car company HIRED the cyclist to crash into a parked car for
> an advertisement. The idea being that idiot cyclists will crash
> into your car, so you need a plastic car to prevent dents from
> all the stupid cyclists. That is what some people find offensive.

[Trudi Marrapodi]

In article >, "Ken [NY)"
> wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 21:12:21 +0100,
> (Trudi Marrapodi) claims:
>
> >> Ken (NY)
> >>
> >> "I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when
> >> the President made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact
> >> that we did disarm him."
> >> --John F. Kerry (ABC News, 5/4/03)
> >
> >Could you keep the politics out of it, please? Thanks. (And for the
> >record, I'd say the same if you were supporting Kerry, the Queen, or
> >Zontar from another planet.)
> >--
> >Trudi
>
> Just a sig line.
> Similar to:
>
> >"Cleveland still rocks."--Me
>
>
>
> Good day. Or as John Kerry would say, bonjour.

And bonjour to you, too. Vive la France, les pommes frites, and Heinz ketchup.
--
Trudi

"Cleveland still rocks."--Me

[Trudi Marrapodi]

In article >, Mitch Haley > wrote:

> alan wrote:
> >
> > What's a cyclist doing crashing into a PARKED car? How is that an
> > indictment of the car company?
>
> The car company HIRED the cyclist to crash into a parked car for
> an advertisement. The idea being that idiot cyclists will crash
> into your car, so you need a plastic car to prevent dents from
> all the stupid cyclists. That is what some people find offensive.
>
> Mitch.

Yeah. And do you really think that they'd show anything colliding with a
*moving* car on a TV ad for the car? Not likely. That would raise the
issue of whether it might, just might, be the driver's fault. They don't
want that to even occur to you. But chances are that a cyclist who goes so
far as to wear cycling togs and a helmet isn't the bumblingly incompetent
kind who's going to go cruising into your parked car as it sits in your
driveway.

And even though stupid kids and pedestrians exist, I predict you will
never see one running into a car and getting flung up onto the hood in a
commercial for said car--not even if the car is parked. Why? Because
people would scream bloody murder. But somehow, it's OK for an adult
cyclist to be depicted having an encounter with the car and being flipped
over and flung against the hood on his head.
--
Trudi

"Cleveland still rocks."--Me