Later today, we'll share the results of TTAC's readers' poll. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that you really are the autoblogosphere's Best and Brightest. One of the gems unearthed by this opt-in poll (yeah, I know) is that our hard-core surfs Autoblog and Jalopnik on a regular basis. This [non] revelation inspires us to continue following branding guru Al Reis advice: if you're not the market leader, define your brand against the other guys. Now no one can accuse Jalopnik of not having a sense of humor (or an anti-flaming policy). But Autoblog has just crossed into new dimensions of unfunny with this video. I mean, there I was thinking, fair enough, poke a little fun at the Ford Flex. Why not? And as I watched… nothing. Save some elliptical crack about Ford Thunderbird technology and the old FoMoCo logo at the end, this clip could have from come The Blue Oval Boys themselves. Lapdoggery never looked so… bland. Anyway, TTAC video will be coming to a screen near you soon. Expect the unexpected.
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I don’t get it, very lame.
autoblog is the aol of the car blog industry.
they started out the most popular because they were one of the first, most fun, informative and just the best at what they did (except for their search, their search function was always useless).
as time went by they stopped listening to their readers and started acting like old-school news outlets – full of mind numbingly boring recitation of facts from automakers and no fun or sense of humor at all. nothing interesting.
now, just like aol, you’re kinda sorta glad they’re there – you remember them from the old days and glad they made it – but there are far more interesting, informative and plain old better alternatives available.
i haven’t visited autoblog for a couple of years now. they suck. ttac does not.
“And don’t forget ladies?”
Nice job pandering to women. We may have the occasional cheesecake shot, but going with the women/groceries bit? Sheesh.
Might have been an amusing fake ad if they said Ford took sole credit for the intermittent wiper on the Flex.
The Flex is actually one of the better cars Ford has come out with in recent years. Maybe they should have targeted some of the gems Cry-sler is selling.
Ohhh I get it, they were trying to go with the old ’50s style ad, but the guy had the voice and the accent all wrong. Just sounded silly.
It is not Autoblog…it is the Scion…err…Flex they are using.
AOL owns Autoblog.
Don’t forget ladies, you belong barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. Now fetch me a cocktail.
Yeah, virages has this spot-on. It was a very poorly done parody of old 50’s commercials. I’m trying not to be as much of a hater nowadays, but that was pretty much awful. They didn’t even layer some distortion on the VO, which wasn’t well done, and it was entirely lacking a campy ’50s commercial music bed, which would have clued in viewers to what they were trying to do.
That “Thunderbird” line didn’t make any damn sense, either, does this share an engine or frame components with the remade Thunderbird from a few years back???? I think not…
In any case, this was major suck, but I’m still not a fan of blog-sniping. I appreciate Autoblog for what they provide and I appreciate TTAC as well. This is the blogosphere, you don’t need to brand yourself against the other guys – this isn’t Coke vs. Pepsi or Bud vs. Miller or Republicans vs. Democrats. Can’t we all just get along?
I’ve really stopped reading the information that Autoblog writes – just the title. I more laugh at them as one article they had on a video of the then upcoming v8 M3 doing a nice lurid smoking drift and commented about how bad it was understeering (like a smoky drift when wanted is a bad thing)! The Autoblog writer didn’t even know the difference between oversteer and understeer!
“if you’re not the market leader, define your brand against the other guys.”
If this is your market strategy, you seem to be misapplying it. It is supposed to mean “Show why we are better”, not “Insult and disparage the other guy and constantly look for things to get upset about.”
I haven’t seen the video above (won’t play at work) and I rank Autoblog a very distant 2nd after Jalopnik.
However this, and your other attacks on Autoblog always seem to come across as childish. They used to come across as a vague “See! See! They suck, so you should read us instead!”. With this post you have changed that from a vague attitude to apparently part of your mission statement.
This is not helped by the fact that TTAC has picked on autoblog for failing at full disclosure. Then when one of your past anti-autoblog posts garnered a lot of negative comments, rather than posting a response, rebuttal or otherwise acknowledging your error, you deleted the post as though you’d never said it. Then you further deleted my comment in another news post on the subject of the deleted post (left there because the one I was trying to comment on was gone by the time I logged in).
I don’t even recall now what the anti-autoblog post was about, I just remember that TTAC deleted a news post when its readers didn’t agree with their anti-autoblog stance.
How about this for a marketing strategy? Be a better website than Autoblog. If TTAC is truly a great automotive website you shouldn’t have to compare yourself against them. Post interesting, useful and amusing reviews without bias. Collect and post the latest in automotive news in a timely fashion. Write insightful editorials on the auto industry (and perhaps some outside of the dead/suicide watch series? 6 of 10 of the most recent at from those, and 3 of the remaining 4 are on the same basic subject).
If you are truly better than Autoblog people will figure that out for themselves, and come over here of their own accord. Or, you know, read both. This isn’t like buying a Ford vs a Chevy, I can read *both* websites and it costs me nothing but time I already have. Isn’t the internet grand?
I wonder what kind of cruise control switch it has.
Very stupid. However, they are spot on about the Flex being a station wagon. Sorry Ford, but it just is. Not that theres anything wrong with that.
It seems that the users over at Autoblog thought that this was the funniest thing they’ve ever seen, and that TTAC is only ditching on it because we are jealous of them. Yeah, right.
How about that little Coke addict in the backseat.
That was horrible. If it was supposed to be funny, then I forgot to laugh. There wasn’t even any cheesy 50s music in the background. That would have helped quite a bit if that’s what they were going for. Plus it sounds like the narrator is suffering from ‘roid rage or something.
As for the women and groceries… All I can say is “go on, get in the kitchen and make me some pie.” You can try it with your woman too, but it likely won’t result in the pie that you’re looking for.
If you want to see something funny, check out drhorrible.com. Not car related, but still funny.
Not exactly news. FWIW, I read AutoBlog and Jalopnik for their reviews only.
I think that in every way TTAC is superior to Autoblog, but you need to grow up Mr. Farago. It seems like every day you’re trying way too hard to prove to your readers that Autoblog is full of a bunch of humorless pussies and you’re the fucking man. I mostly agree with you even, but I’m starting to lose interest in TTAC because of this childish (and one sided) fight you’re always having with them. Keep up the great blogging, lose the hate.
I agree with both thefronge and prndlol.
Actually, I got more of a laugh from prndlol’s comment than the video. But yes, mudslinging gets old real quick. We have politics for this.
kazoomaloo
Can’t we all just get along?
We could, in theory, but where’s the fun in that? Competition improves the breed. That’s my story/explanation of dysfunctional psychology, and I’m sticking with it.
Pixel
If this is your market strategy, you seem to be misapplying it. It is supposed to mean “Show why we are better”, not “Insult and disparage the other guy and constantly look for things to get upset about.
I think that in every way TTAC is superior to Autoblog, but you need to grow up Mr. Farago. It seems like every day you’re trying way too hard to prove to your readers that Autoblog is full of a bunch of humorless pussies and you’re the fucking man.
I’m not the man. I’m a man.
Tell that to the guys who made the Hertz ads. THEY PICKED YOU UP? Again, I’d like to live in a world where there’s no “negative campaigning.” But I don’t. Besides, integrity is good. Against that backdrop, a lack of integrity by the other guys is… just as good.
This is not helped by the fact that TTAC has picked on autoblog for failing at full disclosure. Then when one of your past anti-autoblog posts garnered a lot of negative comments, rather than posting a response, rebuttal or otherwise acknowledging your error, you deleted the post as though you’d never said it.
Huh? The only post I pulled about Autoblog was one I wrote when I was drunk. I stuck it to them for… uh.. who remembers? Seriously though, it had nothing to do with fair disclosure. When I DID take Autoblog to task over undisclosed press cars and junkets, they changed their policy. It’s still not full disclosure (hotels, airfare, transfers, gas?), but the point was made.
How about this for a marketing strategy? Be a better website than Autoblog.
Roger that.
I think that in every way TTAC is superior to Autoblog, but you need to grow up Mr. Farago. It seems like every day you’re trying way too hard to prove to your readers that Autoblog is full of a bunch of humorless pussies and you’re the fucking man.
I’m “a” man. Not “the” man.
lose the hate
Love the sinner, blog the sin. I say.
Huh? The only post I pulled about Autoblog was one I wrote when I was drunk. I stuck it to them for… uh.. who remembers? Seriously though, it had nothing to do with fair disclosure.
I think it does. You ranted about autoblog in your post (drunk or otherwise), then when people turned against you you deleted it. No mention of the post, not even a followup “I had posted this while drunk and as such it wasn’t truly representative of TTAC’s posting so I removed it.” You simply disappeared the post and acted like it hadn’t happened. You deleted your mistake and tried to pretend it never happened, rather than owning up to it.
Again, I’d like to live in a world where there’s no “negative campaigning.” But I don’t. Besides, integrity is good. Against that backdrop, a lack of integrity by the other guys is… just as good
You can’t live in a world free of negative campaigning, however you personally can put yourself above negative campaigning and hold yourself to a higher standard. You personally, and by extension TTAC can refuse to indulge in negative campaigning and instead focus on promoting TTAC because of how good it is, without trying to raise it up by tearing others down.
Also there is a *huge* difference between a post about autoblog failing to acknowledge perks paid by the manufacturer, and a post about how autoblog doesn’t make movies you find funny. The former is a valid and concrete issue you are raising, the second is a matter of opinion.
So using “lack of integrity” to describe a silly video is more than a bit farfetched.
Pixel:
You deleted your mistake and tried to pretend it never happened, rather than owning up to it.
Actually, I did “own up to it” in a podcast intro the next day.
You can’t live in a world free of negative campaigning, however you personally can put yourself above negative campaigning and hold yourself to a higher standard.
I could. But I don’t. I am, by nature, a gutter snipe. A pettifogging gutter snipe, in fact.
So using “lack of integrity” to describe a silly video is more than a bit farfetched.
Not so far fetched, Mr. Bond. The AB parody “sells” the Flex without irony. It embodies their lack of intellectual independence and, let’s face it, balls– two characteristics you need to be a good (never mind great) journalistic endeavor.
The Michigan accent is a dead giveaway to Autoblog’s flackery.
Actually, I did “own up to it” in a podcast intro the next day.
Which didn’t inform the people who read your news posts and not the podcasts.
I could. But I don’t. I am, by nature, a gutter snipe. A pettifogging gutter snipe, in fact.
So you indulge in negative campaigning because you consider yourself a low-class person of petty character? Why not just come out and say that rather than claiming you’d “like to live in a world where there’s no “negative campaigning.”” and talking about integrity? Wouldn’t full disclosure and honesty about your intentions be the proper path here?
And I just now viewed the video, and it’s crap. But a sellout to Ford? Seriously? It looks like half the “parody” stuff I see on youtube, and I’d be astounded if anyone decided to buy a flex based on it, or mistook it in any way for an actual attempt to promote a Ford vehicle.
it is exactly what they claimed it to be, a parody of the old car commercials from the 50’s & early 60’s. A very mediocre attempt, but they stated that going in.
Anyway, I’m tired of this as you are obviously uninterested in holding yourself to any standards of personal behaviour.
Pixel
Which didn’t inform the people who read your news posts and not the podcasts.
Dude, the written podcast intro. Wbhihc is posted in news.
So you indulge in negative campaigning because you consider yourself a low-class person of petty character?
I’m a low class person of high character. Go figure.
I stopped reading Autoblog a while ago. The chaff overwhelmed the wheat, and I’m not even talking about the comments sections. If I want to read regurgitated PR, I’ll go to a newsstand and buy a buff book.
Rather than rag on them however, I’d prefer that TTAC stay on target. Chase the dream, not the competition.
Autoblog is doing a fine job making themselves irrelevant, so there is no need for TTAC to even talk about them.
–chuck