Re: alfa-digest V7 #1365

[Pottree@domain.elided]

In a message dated 02/18/2000 9:10:37 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:

<< Certainly the highly payed
 >geniuses that dream up these ads have their fingers on the pulse/wallets
 >of America, and realize that people really do like spirited driving etc >>


Marketing American-style is about image and illusion.  Car advertising in the 
US is about building awareness, painting an image that is "top of mind" and 
building floor traffic in the dealerships.  IOW, they will do and say 
anything, appeal to any false self image, pander to any insecurities, to get 
you into the showroom, where they hope you will be putty in the hands of a 
slick salesperson who will send you rolling out in an SUV or minivan or 
bloated sedan "just like an armchair on wheels with all the comforts of home" 
- -- e.g., vehicles on which there is a slim chance of making a profit -- even 
if what drove you into the store was the sexy gloss on a model they don't 
stock and you wouldn't buy anyhow.  This may sound nutty to our friends 
across the pond, but then we think it's odd that you can't buy a tank of gas 
in the afternoon because people are taking a nap.

Selling cars in the USA is not about their mechanical sophistication or the 
sense of driving them, it is only about statistics and margins.

Alas, that lesson was more appreciated in Japan and Germany than in Italy or 
France.

Charlie
LA, CA, USA

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