Our men on the scene have been duly chastened for not bringing us immediate news of yet another award given at the NAIAS by the over-capitalized ROAD & TRAVEL magazine: the equally over-capitalized HEART STRING award. This award attempts "to recognize how well automakers connect cars and consumers based on lifestyle and the emotional experience during ownership." "Rooms," a spot for the Dodge Caravan, scored this year's nod for being "the most emotionally compelling car commercial to appear on national television in 2007." I couldn't find the 30-second clip ROAD & TRAVEL judged worthy of such an honor (a 15-second excerpt on Youtube was as good as it got). As soon as I find the video, I'll post a link to it so we all can warm the cockles of our hearts. Or throw up.
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That seating arangement looks pretty poor. It reminds me of the back seats of a Beachcraft Bonanza or other 6-place light aircraft. It seems as though you’d have to be awfully familiar with folks to feel comfortable sitting on top of across from them.
Don’t a persons knees touch the table in the forward captains chairs, like meant for kids. And the commercial is deceptively unsafe, it shows a family in the back facing eachother but has a tiny disclaimer at the bottom that says seats must be forward facing while car is in motion. This is going to be a safety nightmare when people start getting serious injuries for being seated in that position during an accident. Wonder if that’s why it gets the ‘Heart String’ award for the heart strings on the family of the injurd this minivan is going to cause.
Redbarchetta
And the commercial is deceptively unsafe, it shows a family in the back facing eachother but has a tiny disclaimer at the bottom that says seats must be forward facing while car is in motion.
Speaking of deceptive Chrysler van TV ads, check out Consumer Report’s take on one ad for the Town and Country.
They were playing magnetic Jenga, so it is quite possible.
We could also complain about the Loch Ness monster not being able to digest a Toyota pickup truck. Oh, that’s right. CR doesn’t criticize Toyota except when they’ve been overtly embarrassed by them ;-)
Hey, where is the pooper and hot plate? Pfff…this thing has nothing on my Westphalia.
That Jenga thing really fooled me — I thought that Chrysler had finally invented inertial dampers.
Redbarchetta :
And the commercial is deceptively unsafe, it shows a family in the back facing eachother but has a tiny disclaimer at the bottom that says seats must be forward facing while car is in motion.
Actually, no, the disclaimer doesn’t say that at all. It says that the Swivel ‘n Go seats “must be locked in forward or rearward mode when the vehicle is in motion.” The swivel feature was clearly designed to be used during travel—what would the point otherwise be? Indeed, the Town & Country passed Chrysler’s crash tests with the seats facing both forward and backward.
I swear I saw that in a TV ad months ago right when it came out. Even my wife told me she saw it on a different occasion. If I’m wrong I apologize.
Is this the commercial where the Chrysler van steps in to save the dysfunctional family?
Never fails to choke me up.
On last night’s dinner.
Yeah, that’s the one. Mommy Dearest commanding ‘tween rebel and apparently nameless boys to go for a ride and save the family…while Dad just sits there, savoring his lobotomy.