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THE FAST AND THE CURIOUS
An Open Letter to the Industry

This article is from our archives and has not been updated and integrated with our "new" site yet... Even so, it's still awesome - so keep reading!

Published on Mon, Sep 11, 2017

By: The LACar Editorial Staff

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Who the hell do I have to complain to? ... It (was) just a quiet Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were watching the U.S. Open finals on TV. There were, of course, number of adverts from top-tier companies … and then there was one, near the end of the match, that made the two of us whoop louder than the sellout crowd at Flushing Meadows. The ad that stunned us was a Mercedes-Benz commercial which shows a number of growling drag racing vehicles racing against a new model Mercedes. The machines (including a funny car, a dragster, and a full-out drag bike and the Mercedes) line up curb-to-curb on what looks like a city street, a traffic light goes green … and the machines leap forward in a five-wide drag race … the Mercedes gets to the end of the block first. Apparently it wins what looks everything like a patently illegal street race and the voice over indicates what Mercedes model it was and indicates that it would be a good idea for the people watching to buy this car … I guess based on its “track” … er, street racing record.* I frankly don’t think that it was the very best example of “The Best or Nothing” slogan that tags many of Mercedes’ adverts.* Likewise, a recent (at least here in Los Angeles) TV commercial shows two late model BMW’s seemingly racing each other through a (it seems) deserted industrial site with a quick close-up of another (was it one of the two street racers?) BMW cornering very hard, so hard that the driver needs to crank in a huge amount of opposite lock to keep control as the car slides right up to a painted double line that’s NOT on a race course, but apparently on a normal street somewhere. There you go, “The Ultimate Driving Machine” going way, way too fast, and apparently on city streets. And then we have Fiat-Chrysler running a whole flight of TV ads that show a wide range of way too fast activities with two (or more) cars quite apparently racing each other. Of course building a car (the Dodge Demon) that’s banned from competing in “as delivered” form by the NHRA, and then bragging about it in print in enthusiast magazines says: (at least to my ear) “Race this one the street, because it is so powerful that NHRA wants you to install a big old honking roll cage if you ever want run it at the drag strip.” A quick word about myself if I may, I’m the VP of communications at Irwindale Event Center located about 20 miles East of Los Angeles. We operate a half-mile NASCAR-sanctioned paved oval and an eighth-mile NHRA-sanctioned drag strip. We opened the drag strip in 2000, and it’s the only one in southern California that operates on a weekly basis all year long. Thousands upon thousands of drivers (young, old and in between) have used our facility to have some safe, controlled, high-speed fun with their performance cars. It’s almost impossible to prove a negative, however, I think that our drag strip has helped to dampen illegal street racing in the area. And, from that perspective I feel that I can say the following: … Yeah, sure, yup, correct, you’re right; I know those commercial are a fantasy, innocent, innocuous metaphors, simply flights of advertising license. On the other hand, all of the above automobile commercials most blatantly portray and appear to glorify illegal street racing. And supering-in some sort of tiny “closed course, do not attempt” wording on the screen when the hottest model Dodge cars are purposely seen racing with each other (or in earlier TV adverts, joyfully driving right through the middle of an idyllic outdoor wedding party knocking over tables and scattering people like a terrorists) is not a worthy excuse in my world. Finally and directly to all three of the above manufacturers, as well as any others that I’ve missed: All of you know that you can show the fun of cool, high performance driving without using (and thereby glamorizing) often deadly and illegal street racing (no how much you see it as harmless marketing hyperbole ). You are all better than that, I’m sure. -Doug Stokes, Editor SIDEBAR COMMENT: Hey Doug, Thumbs up to you for responding to your conscience and calling this growing nature of 'street-racing' advertising to question. Unless there is some ripple in the ranks of auto industry stakeholders (all of us), the "me too" momentum of ad campaigns and media messaging can stir this trend to a dark cult. From soccer moms in minivans to AMG and M-type BMWs and Hellcat Dodges, fewer admit to enjoying edgy throttle levers and boost to maneuver. Yet everyone seems to discover what happens when any of us mash the gas pedal at some point. To offer TV commercials that bring mature, professional-looking adults into mainstream motoring in monster-motor luxury cars and 'Fast & Furious' new-car showroom fantasies is a dark direction. Losing only one life that can be traced to these messages is unacceptable. Do you know how many teenage fatalities we already have each year in California "alone?" I just learned this reading last night: 15,000 kids annually—high speeds, alcohol/drugs and distracted drivers. Perhaps even an MPG collective voice could be considered by the board ahead. You have been courageous enough to formulate and express a legitimate car culture concern. The best of our American freedoms including speaking out and stepping up. Thank you for caring to access all of us out here with your observation. You certainly got me reflecting on this one! Strength and momentum to you for the week. - Steve "The Car Guy" Ford Got something to say about this editorial? Add your Facebook comment here.

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