Once upon a time, GM had to pull a TV spot for the Corvette because the media nannies thought it would encourage 10-year-olds to drive America's sports car recklessly. And now the Canadian Press reports that Ford's yanked a newspaper ad in Saskatchewan and Manitoba because the (thought?) police says it encourages auto theft. The full-page ad showed the rear of a Ford SUV with a bumper sticker that reads "Drive it like you stole it," with "Built for life in Manitoba" underneath. Ford of Canada spokeswoman Gina Gehlert has thrown herself on her PR sword (guaranteed non-fatal), saying "It was never our intention to offend anyone." But Gehlert refused to comment on whether the ad will appear in other markets or be reworked into something that doesn't lead Canadian youth into a lifetime of crime. May I suggest a bumper sticker that says "Drive it like you rented it?" No, that's not it. Any suggestions?
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Drive it like you leased it.
Drive it ’till the wheels fall off.
(Which will be right after the warranty expires)
If more people stole Fords from the lot – does that mean higher sales? Brilliant!
Doesn’t help that the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba’s capital, is also Canada’s car-theft capital. For that reason, the entire province has Canada’s worst auto-theft record.
So yeah, not exactly a bright campaign on Ford’s part.
Drive it like you weren’t afraid of rollovers.
Drive it like you were late for curfew.
Drive it like you can’t go back to prison.
Drive it like you don’t care about gas prices.
One thing on Ford ads here in Canada is that they always claim that Ford is built here in Canada or in this case the Province of Manitoba, only place they build some Fords is in Oakville Ontario and very few of them too, the truth in advertising eh!
I figure the sticker should read
“Drive It For As Long As It Works”.
Please feel free to draw your own conclusions…
Gentle Ted: The problem with that slogan is its ambiguity. When I saw it, I thought the same thing as you (WTF!?). They mean that it is ‘constructed for ones daily grind in Manitoba’ as opposed to; ‘contructed to last a lifetime (10 years/150000 miles?), made in Manitoba’.
The two signs are unrelated: their text colors are different, the text is of different size and font, and they are not placed together into any sort of cohesive single element. Therefore, I would interpret the two as independent messages as follows…
Drive it like you stole it: drive in a manner needed to evade police capture (i.e.: recklessly and dangerously).
Made for life in Manitoba: designed for that city’s specific needs (whatever that means).
Drive it like a nancypants busybody
alternatively: drive it like you aren’t afraid it’s going to burn your house down when you park it in the garage for the night.
Drive it like you still have 58 payments to go.
Drive it like your wife drives it when you’re at work!
BTW I grew up in Winnipeg Manitoba, a wonderful land-locked place that seems to suffer repeated biblical plagues from bug infestations, floods, oppressive heat and temperatures down to absolute zero. Believe me, if any car will start after sitting frozen in a snow bank for two days – that’s all it needs to qualify as built for life in Winnipeg Manitoba.
I definitely want to get one of those “built for life in Manitoba” stickers.
Gentle Ted:
One thing on Ford ads here in Canada is that they always claim that Ford is built here in Canada or in this case the Province of Manitoba, only place they build some Fords is in Oakville Ontario and very few of them too, the truth in advertising eh!
Ford actually operates two assembly plants in Canada. Oakville is the only plant that assembles the Edge and MKX, so I wouldn’t say that its output is “very few” vehicles. The second assembly plant, at St. Thomas, Ontario, builds the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis and Town Car. Ford also builds engines in Windsor.
Drive it like you’re not on your frigging cell phone or programming your nav screen, please!
Drive it like O.J. Simpson
Drive it like it’s the end of the world.
Drive it like a suppository.
Drive it like you’re paparazzi.
Drive it like you’ve got bodies in the trunk.
Drive it like you’re Speed Racer.
Drive it like Evel Kinevil.
Drive it like you overdosed on viagra.
Drive it like it’s stick shift.
Drive it like Dragons are chasing it: http://jalopnik.com/cars/ewww/dragons-having-sex-with-cars-306619.php
Drive it like you mean it.
Drive it like Tiger Woods.
Drive it like Happy Gilmore.
Drive it like Stunt Man Mike.
Drive it like you want to kill your tires.
Drive it like you’re invincible.
Drive it like your brakes gave out.
Drive it like you’re blind.
Drive it like Bullitt.
Drive it like an Autojournalist.
Okay, I’m done for now…
Drive it like you rented it
I think Chrysler has already trademarked that slogan….
How bout:
Drive it like her dad’s on the porch, waiting with a gun….
Drive it like you borrowed it from your yuppie brother-in-law…
Funny thing is that maybe 2 yrs back gov agencies forced Fiat to pull an add back, too. In it, a guy walks out of prison and as he turns the corner he sees the new Fiat car. His eyes shine, the curtain drops, company logos appear and you draw your own conclusion. Pretty funny and good at stressing just how highly desirable the car was. Anyhow, we have the nanny government pull it. Jeez, I saw a commercial and I’m gonna steal a car. I guess though we deserve the governments we get.
Drive it like it’s a Honda.
Drive it like it’s on under-inflated Firestones.