Grumpy Friday

There’s a car company ad I’ve seen a few times now that shows cars tootling along some big city commuting expressway - cars with thoughts coming out of them. One such thought is “I deserve better mileage.”

Well, I guess you can argue that we deserve better mileage - we sure could use it - but you can also argue that, when it comes to mileage, we get what we deserve. I.e., we get what we pay for and what we vote for. We have, up until way too recently, been paying for cars that get lousy mileage. You could argue that this is because it’s all that Detroit’s been giving us. Or your could argue that Detroit’s been giving us what we wanted: ve-hi-cles the size of Sherman tanks that command Sherman tank mileage.

And we have, up until present, not done a particularly good job electing folks to political office with the political chops to enact fuel economy standards that might have helped us out of the current (and future) crisis.

So, do we deserve better mileage?

Yes/no/maybe.

I just hope that we get it pretty soon. (I will say that I’ve seen a number of those teeny-weeny little Smart Cars around my neighborhood recently. But they’re not coming from Detroit.)

There’s a Movado watch ad I just noticed in The Economist that shows Derek Jeter of the NY Yankees - “humanitarian, leader, athlete” - flogging a price watch with as many dials on it as the control panel of a 747. But, hey, if someone’s willing to pay $25K for a watch, that’s their business. And I’m not picking on Derek Jeter here because he’s a Yankee. I’m not picking on him at all. First, I believe there has been a very similar ad starring Our Tom, Tom Brady, who - until his recent season-ending injury - was the hero quarterback of the New England Patriots. If I’d seen the ad with Tom rather than Derek, I like to think I’d be doing an equal rant.

And Jeter’s actually one of the Yankees (along with Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada) that I like. And I’m not doubting for a New York minute that he is a not just a leader and athlete, but also a humanitarian. So why not give a little shout out in the ad to something that would tell us just what makes him a humanitarian, i.e., just what charity he has created. After all, anyone who’s heard of Jeter will know he’s an athlete. A lot of those who know he’s an athlete will know he’s the captain of the Yankees (i.e., the leader). But am I the only one who didn’t know that he has a foundation aimed at getting kids involved in sports rather than turning to alcohol or drugs? (It’s called the Turn2 Foundation, and its info is under Jeter’s own web site, which notes that since 1996, it’s awarded $8M in grants in support of its mission to “promote healthy lifestyles.”

Yes, I’m happy the ad didn’t say “Movado is donating $xxxx to Derek Jeter’s charity.” But I think a url and a tag line would have been a good idea.

Most inquiring minds aren’t going to be all that inquiring, such that the google up the answer for themselves.

I like rants to come in uneven numbers, but on this Grumpy Friday, there are only these two that stick in my mind. Unless I get myself going on the omni-present, omni-terrible ads for Bob’s Discount Furniture…

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