We were on about cars yesterday... specifically very cool and very fast cars. So My Buddy Ed In Florida sends this along...
The ad is supposedly for factory-authorized BMW "pre-owned" cars. I've never seen the ad anywhere but I'm hoping it's real. And just in case you were wonderin'... No, I certainly wouldn't care.
What's actually a little creepy is the fact that the girl in the ad is probably between 12 and 14. But that's the magic of advertising, right? Uh, right?
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog. Always interesting.
Ya think she's that young, Anon? Really? Thanks for the kind words!
ReplyDeleteShe's definitely older IMHO. And Germanic. A Fraulein. But that's my strange mind at work. Great ad. Great post. And as for your last observation, I hear you. I've owned lots of used cars in my life, all very, very good. Except for that little Italian job. Fannie Fiat. I think I told you about her. Yup. I know you weren't exactly talking about cars.
ReplyDeleteDunno that I've ever had a fresh one...I usually felt pretty happy that somebody else went through the whole process of finding out what was wrong with it, and left me to teach it how to run right.
ReplyDeleteJust one man's opinion.
Yes: "I care"
ReplyDeleteIf this woman were to ask me to to go with her so she could examine my "junk" I would say "No Thankyou."
An used BMW is like an used condom.
If the woman was maybe 20 years older, then "Yes."
I just can't do jail right now.
Yea, sorry, she looks like jailbait to me too. As a father of three daughters, I have some rather strong opinions about this sort of thing. But I'll keep them to myself.
ReplyDeleteI think those of you who suspect the model MIGHT be underage are over-thinking things just a wee bit. Jeeze... it's just a freakin' ad!
ReplyDeleteAs for the new/used thing... I've bought a couple of used cars in my time but I generally prefer to buy new. I like the security of a warranty. And that new car smell.
Buck,
ReplyDeleteGuess it's just more of that Do It Yourself thing...
To extend the new vs. used analogy:
The minute you drive it out the door, the value declines by 30%.
New, unproven technology resembles the old Pig in a Poke argument in more ways than one.
The robust history of Yugos, Edsels and early-80s US small cars (not to mention the divorce rate) would indicate that the feeling of security embodied in a warranty is largely the fantasy of a swiftly-disappearing past.
Nothing like knowing how. The sadder but wiser girl for me.
...the feeling of security embodied in a warranty is largely the fantasy of a swiftly-disappearing past.
ReplyDeleteBut the technology in new cars is the reason why a warranty is desirable these days. You can't really be a shade tree mechanic these days without several thousand dollars worth of diagnostic paraphernalia and intimate knowledge of control modules and such. And serviceable Old-Tech cars are rarer than hens teeth these days.
"...it's just an ad"
ReplyDeleteTrue. But marketing is like sausage making. Given unlimited range, the Germans would probably show pictures of holocaust victims to sell you a diet book.
That's pretty harsh, Anon.
ReplyDeleteVery strange ad. The endless fascination with female virginity fascinates me. There are days I wonder if we really think we are so far apart from the Saudis after all. Not having a dig at men liking pretty women but think this ad is over the top to sell a car?!
ReplyDeleteAlison has hit the nail on the head (nailed it?) and if I have to kill everyone on a suicide mission, I'd rather have 72 pole dancers and part-time prostitutes, thank you.
ReplyDeleteHere's the bad part of this Ad: Say you bought one of these cars. That means people could look at you and say "you fell for the 12 year old didn't you!" Na, Na, Na!
Oh my aching ass...
The endless fascination with female virginity fascinates me.
ReplyDeleteI think that fascination is pretty much dead, Alison. It survives in mostly Catholic and "abstention" circles but that's about it. That's my two cents, for what it's worth.
Anon: Still goin' on about 12 year olds, are we? ;-)
Must be a German thing, the virginity thing. If this ad is for real of course and im not so sure!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the Germans, if you want to read an interesting book (well, it contains a lot about sexual ethics that even I wondered what the source was) written in 1912 on Sexual Ethics, here you go:
ReplyDeletehttp://books.google.com/books?id=YQvTSCTUH18C&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q&f=false
Holy Smokes, I had no idea how the marriage ritual was so screwed-up psychologically, and then: why it even exists today, other than maybe being a financial decision, maybe.
He goes on to compare the Germans, Italians, and French (seeming to accuse the Parisian French women of mostly being there to satisfy the sexual needs of roving British males, unable to get their own women to put out, or more likely, to maintain their ignorant institutions on the island).
Interesting stuff, if you like to read deep shit, not so interesting if you are visually oriented and can't wait for the next Bristol Palin dance. Hey, at least she wasn't hung-up sexually, didn't buy into the virgin before marriage thing, and by God - a real used car.
I read the first few pages of your link this morning, Anon. I've bookmarked it for later, when I'm in more of a deep mood.
ReplyDelete