The collective amount of talent and creativity invested in car commercials is pure obscenity.

Is there a link for the NY Times survey?

Love. Passion. Inspiration. Dare to dream. Be the individual you are! Freedom to move! vroom vroom! Nothing says character like your style.

Being the alien that I am from a distant planet, I assumed cars are the living beings, are you telling me the organic detachable part is the life form? No way, I do not believe it.

Yet another example of how marketting gives objects human like qualities. I don't think that people actually comprehend the oppressive themes this tool has on society. They just see a car that is their best friend. :(

I thought the qualities in the Cadillac ad were a little overstated, but I am finding it hard to see what is the problem. A lot of people consider their car vital and reliable, as well as put a lot of sentiment into their car because they have their car a long time. It is like their house. Is a house inanimate, and yet people feel sad when they move even though moving is the choice they had to make. People feel similarly about their cars, and it takes such an ad sometimes to rationally look at their car as the inanimate heap of metal that it is, and they will still feel a little choked up when they sell it. I'm not alarmed by the statistics. In many ways a car is like having a dog. Does the dog understand why you're sad? No. Is it still there for you? Yes. It's sort of an uncomplicated relationship, and sure, you project yourself in things like your car or your house or your dog. I'm not surprised by the statistics, not so wired up by the ad itself, but if they want to sell cars, they have to appeal to what people really like about the car they already have.

A car is a tool. It is intended to take a person or person(s) from point A to Point B. It is not the more efficient means of getting around, but it is the most convenient.

I buy used cars at this point in my life, maybe I will new one day. I tend to buy small stick shift cars, to squeeze out the best fuel economy. Probably half the trips I make are unnecessary, or at least could be avoided if I planned better or accepted substitute items from stores I can walk to. I think I do better than most Americans, but worse than some. I do try to think about oil, climate change and our future.

So here's the thing. We surrender a lot of our decision making to trends, advertising and the mob. By that I mean our choices in politicians, in cars we buy, clothes we wear and food we eat. I recently became vegetarian, and the reason I give is the factory farm and commercial fishing systems. When I say this, people get a pained look on their faces and say, "yes, I know, but I couldn't go vegetarian because of" and there is whatever reason given, protein, family eating or sheer inconvenience. Meanwhile our food is really unhealthy. Perhaps if we have another flu pandemic like the 1912 one.

The car thing is much the same. People are separated from their money by advertisers indicating imaginary differences between various vehicles, including the ability to drive through snow drifts and across open plains in an SUV, even though the overwhelming majority of people will simply sit in traffic in them. There certainly are farmers (although fewer and fewer) and plumbers and drywall hangers who need a pickup truck or more likely van to haul things around in. There are people who have five or six or more kids (I don't know why, but there they are). These people need bigger vehicles. The rest of us are left saying we might go camping, or we always wanted one, or I can help people move (even if I do have a bad back). In other words, when we try to repeat back the advertising slogans back out loud, we end up looking pretty silly.

But for far too many people a sharp looking car and a tough talking politician (you betcha) is the only way to go.

Speaking of ridiculous ideas to advertise cars... this is almost funny.

i don't understand this article. my car is a person, a person i tell you!

Pretty silly to get so emotional about a car. Motorcycles are the only motor vehicles worthy of this type of emotional attachment.

The ad could be seen as an effective way to tap into cultural cues and make the message about environmental responsibility more relatable to viewers by using visual shorthand. The contrast between the feminine and masculine characters could appeal to certain audiences, particularly those who might identify with one of the gendered roles portrayed. However, the downside of this kind of marketing is that it reinforces outdated stereotypes about gender, potentially alienating those who see such portrayals as simplistic or even regressive. While the intent might be to convey a positive message about the benefits of subaru sambar parts, it risks reducing the complex topic of environmental sustainability to a battle of good versus evil framed by gender, which overlooks the diversity of people who are involved in and passionate about these issues.