Read Nissan's Response Read the mail Tommy's been getting about his Nissan rant.

Nissan! What ARE you thinking? (Or aren't you thinking?)

On our radio show this week, we felt obliged to take Nissan to task for their latest Frontier pick-up truck ad. In the ads Jerry Hirschberg, the design chief at Nissan America, tells us that the Frontier is "muscular and powerful." Then, at the end of the ad, Jerry says, "The Frontier sends a message." And what, one may ask, is that message? Mr. Hirschberg tells us. The message is, "Get out of my way."

Get out of my way? Now I ask you, what's with these bozos (in our humble opinion) at Nissan? Get out of my way? We don't already have sufficient numbers of self-centered inconsiderate drivers on the road saying, "Get out of my way?" Nissan has to not only condone such an outrageous driving attitude, they have to support it? Suggest that you adopt it?

I don't think so. This ad takes the prize for irresponsibility (in our humble opinion).

And just who IS responsible for this irresponsibility? Well, we happen to know.

First there's the ad agency. Our secret sources tell us that TBWA Chiat Day are the geniuses who came up with this great idea. And then, of course, Nissan had to approve it.

If Nissan and Chiat Day are proud of this strategy of selling vehicles by promoting rude, selfish, despicable behavior on the roads, this is our chance to prove them wrong.

How about we all send them a letter. Here are the names and addresses:

Richard O'Neill
Senior Executive Producer
TBWA Chiat Day
5353 Grosvenor
Los Angeles CA 90066-69813
Phone: 310.305.5705
Fax: 310.305.6000
E-mail: richard.oneill@tbwachiat.com

Tim Gallagher
Corporate Manager, Public Relations
Nissan North America
18501 S. Figueroa Street
Gardena, California 90248-0191
E:mail: tim.gallagher@nissan-usa.com

Feel free to copy any parts of the letter we wrote. You might want to tell them that they can forget about you as a customer. They all seem to respond to that.

If you know anyone who's in the market for a car right now, you might want them to know about Nissan's inexcusable anything-for-a-buck tactics, and drop them a note.

Nissan isn't the first corporation to act this way, and they won't be the last. But that doesn't mean we need to stand for this kind of irresponsible corporate behavior. So, let's talk to Nissan in the only language they can understand--money. Until they apologize and retract this ad, please join us in spending your hard-earned dineros somewhere else.

Thanks for your help.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi