Car Talk Nissan/Numbskull

Last year I called Nissan to complain about the Extera TV ad, where a skier was shown in a serious wipe-out. I guess the image of a person's body hurtling end over end down a steep slope was supposed to justify that silly little first aid kit they put in the back of the Extera. Like a first-aid kit was gonna help that guy (gal). I complained that the ad showed poor taste and used the misfortunes of a human being as an advertising ploy. Oddly enough, after that I never saw the ad again. Hope your radio rant will have a similar effect.

Kay B. Bumble

How about including Jeep ads in your next rant? You know, the ones showing people crashing their Grand Cherokees through snow banks at 50 miles an hour or flying across what were peaceful meadows? Give me a break! Keep up the good work!

Steve Brook

My letter to Chiat-Day: Gentlemen:

Whomever came up with that ad should be sentenced to spend eternity driving the Southern California freeways in a passenger sedan surrounded by inconsiderate idiots in overpowered pick-up trucks.

Mary Shepardson

Hey you guys. Get a clue! This ad is the kind of aggressive work that sells. Whether you guys like it or not, if it wasn't for these ads and others like them, no one would buy the cars you so much hate, and yes love too. So tell Tommy to take another 2 Prozac pills, and don't call me in the morning. By the way, the show is funny and entertaining otherwise when Ray keeps Tommy on a tight leash.

Vincent Chen

I think Nissan was speaking metaphorically. Y'know, in the, step aside, or the move over, there's something new and better sense; the same manner in which bacon would be instructed to do so by something meatier. Just a thought.

Vincent

FYI, here's a copy of my letter to Hirschberg:

Mr. Hirschberg,

I know where you're coming from with the Nissan ad that was recently criticized by Tom & Ray on NPR's Car Talk. I have worked many years in advertising & marketing for a Fortune 500 company, and I understand how the ad industry operates. The automotive industry's marketing of the SUV fascinates me. Moreover, I'm now in a position to voice my opinions on matters such as these to many first-time car buyers. As a professor at a regional college in the Dallas-Fort Worth market area, I have an effective Bully Pulpit from which to speak. My opinion is this: Tom & Ray could not be more right. I'm adapting my lecture to incorporate this letter, starting Monday. The lesson will be one of civil responsibility in design and marketing.

Dr. Scott Robinson
Program Coordinator
Dept. of Communication and Fine Arts
North Central Texas College

Thanks for your diatribe on Jerry H. and Nissan today. I was looking for a reason to get out of bed and kick butt and... there you were, having a fine, righteous evangelical rant! This is not the first SUV "muscle" ad I've seen. Remember the one that came out last year with some soccer mom hopping curbs to get a parking space? Scary stuff.

Robin

You guys should worry about more important things than the Nissan ad. Do you really believe that anyone will change bad driving habits because of a Nissan TV ad? Or that they will buy the Frontier so that they can drive a different way than if they had a different vehicle? This is just advertising hyperbole that I see on TV everyday. If you want to do good deeds, have your listeners write to Congress and the White House to stop the continuing infringements on our freedoms and liberties, the lax national security, the excess taxation, over regulation, wasteful and pork barrel spending, etc.

David Troscinski

Guys, I can't tell you how happy I am that you picked up on the Nissan ad. I had the same reaction and have been on an internet rampage for the last few weeks. I have to admit it: I used a shotgun approach. Here is the crop I have reaped so far:

1. I have a response from Lisa Sheikh of the Partnership for Safe Driving in DC saying they want a tape of the ad and they will consider asking the FTC for sanctions against Nissan. I did in fact mail her a copy of the tape.
2. Ellen Vanderslice of AmericaWalks is drafting a letter to Nissan on her letterhead.
3. The Detroit Free Press may run my email as a letter to the editor.
4. Eric Nagourney of the New York Times says he is thinking about this.
5. A reporter at the LA Times says she has passed it on to her editor.
6. The Jacksonville, Fla. paper has referred my note to their consumer affairs desk.
7. Tom Baxter at the Atlanta Constitution is up in arms over this and over SUVs in general but is professionally very involved in the current political season. He will pass it on to another reporter for development.
8. Officer Dow of the Fayetteville, NC police traffic bureau is complaining to Nissan and is seeking to have the story developed in our local paper.
9. Paul Hampel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is developing an article.
10. The head of the California Institute for Traffic Safety (Dr. Sheila Sarkar) is suggesting I start an email petition.

Bill Quinn

Copy of my e-message:

Dear Mr. O'Neill:

When I saw the television commercial for the Nissan Frontier in which Nissan's Jerry Hirschberg tells us that the Frontier sends a message to "get out of my way" I was appalled. Incidents caused by self-centered, inconsiderate drivers seem to be increasing throughout the country. Promoting such behavior with slick television commercials is inexcusable. In the near future I will be purchasing a vehicle. Both the Nissan Maxima and Sentra were under consideration ... until I saw this commercial. Without a very public apology for this ad campaign and a very good explanation of the reasoning behind this commercial I will not be considering the purchase of any vehicle manufactured by Nissan.

Joel F. Carico

I just left a voice mail for Tim Gallagher at Nissan telling him, that, as a result of your "Get out of my way" ad, he can forget about me buying any Nissan vehicle, ever. Advertising influences behavior. You of all people must know that. Why don't you start thinking, right now, about how many people — men, women, kids — are going to be killed or injured because your ad encouraged some bozos to think "get out of my way."

Leonard Kasday

You hit the nail on the head with that NISSAN ad. What a bunch of bozos! It's bad enough that there are so many bad attitude drivers on the road, then add the number of SUVs and 4 x 4 trucks (tanks), it is absolutely crazy. Now a car company wants you to buy a tank and drive like you own the road. Maybe they can get Smith and Wesson to cosponsor their next series of ads.

Barry

Out here in the wild west (Pacific northwest, to be exact), where it's really pretty tame except on city freeways, Chrysler has sprinkled the land with a billboard ad for their Dodge Ram pickup. It consists of a picture of a red Ram, with the string of (large) letters "BADITUDE" emblazoned on it. Maybe they're just trying to say that it's OK for me to have a bad attitude about the all the behemoths tailgating me on the freeway, but I doubt it.

Bette

If your ad campaign encourages only one driver to act irresponsibly, then that's one irresponsible driver more than we need. Is this really how you want to sell cars? Consider me a FORMER Nissan owner.

Deborah Wood

Thanks for alerting the public about this stupid commercial. I sent that a-hole a polite email.

Warren

I'm ordinarily a worshipful fan but in the matter of the Nissan Frontier, you have your heads up your exhaust. What we should be controlling are bad drivers, not good cars. If the Nissan ads or any other ads entice a driver to behave recklessly, then that person has a serious judgment deficit and shouldn't be driving in the first place. I mean, I can sort of see your argument against something like a Vipe rÑ who needs it? Ñ but we're talking a lame-ass TRUCK here.

Cory Farley

Tom, I think you are going a little over the top with this Nissan ad criticism. Now we have political correctness goose stepping into the automotive industry. If you want to worry about something, worry about all the pollution spewing into the atmosphere from those old clunkers you guys drive!

Robert Hooper

What I sent to Nissan after reading about their ridiculous ad on your site:

"Dear Mr. Gallagher:

My husband and I just purchased a new 2000 Nissan Maxima, which we love. We have recommended your cars to several of our friends, and I have considered replacing our Camry with a Nissan when the time comes. However, the latest Frontier pickup ad, which advocates a pushy, macho, "Get out of my way" attitude towards driving, has given us pause. "Get out of my way" or what, may we ask? You'll run us over with your truck? Kill our children? Smash over our Maxima and make us into statistics? And what exactly are you doing, that we're "in your way?" Speeding down residential streets? Blasting through crosswalks and school zones? Talking on the phone in the left lane of the interstate? Excuse us for being "in the way." We do not wish to share the road with anyone who buys into your driving-as-warfare attitude, and were frankly stunned that the company we have been promoting to our friends as a manufacturer of fun-yet-practical cars suitable for young families is also a proponent of aggressive driving. You can't have it both ways. We have rethought our position on Nissan, and we will hesitate before recommending your cars to anyone else."

Do you really think that customers buy large menacing vehicles because they have heavy cargo to carry?? Please! One of the reasons people buy these large trucks is because they want to intimidate other drivers. Guess what? It works.

Gloria