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When Is An Ad Not An AD?
Volkswagen is up in arms over a bogus TV ad that has gone viral on the internet.
Here is the ad that purports to be a genuine ad that is going to air in Ireland and the UK.
Whilst it is quite clever, and in the genre of VW advertising, it is far too provocative and racially offensive to pass all the regulationary codes.
In fact it was produced by a creative commercial TV outfit who speculatively presented it to Volkswagen’s advertising agency. They, of course, rejected it as highly inappropriate. But somehow it got onto the internet under the guise of an official VW ad, and has gone viral.
According to the VW PR people, they are extremely annoyed and have commenced legal action against the perpetrators. Still, to the average person, us included, when you get the email it seems authentic….so, how do you find out it isn’t? Well, we simply Googled the titles to find out it was a con, but most people wouldn’t.
We reckon this is a dangerous trendsetter, but how can you overcome it?
Your Worst Car.
Surveys have shown that modern cars are so much better than their predecessors. But there have been some real ‘lemons’ in the past.
So what was the worst car you’ve ever owned?
Well, let me get the ball rolling…
I took delivery of a brand new company car- a Holden Station Wagon a few decades ago. That was in September. In December we planned a family trip in the new car to Adelaide.
We set off very early in the morning and had no sooner started the climb through the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, when I noticed the temperature guage creeping up.. So I backed off a bit, turned off the aircon and hoped for the best. It settled down well enough to feel a bit more confident, but, as we progressed across the Hay Plains the day warmed up, as did the car, and as did the motor! It finally gave up the ghost in the middle of nowhere, and with two small kids on board. We arranged a tow truck to the nearest town about 60kms away and arrived at the local Holden dealer.
In their defence, if it had been virtually any other make we would have been stuck there, but not Holden. They fitted a new radiator and thermostat and we were on our way a couple of hours later. But that was just the start of our love/hate relationship with our Kingswood. When it was going, it was great, but clearly it had been a ‘Friday’ car, so didn’t go for long until it was back in the workshop. I’ve had a few more Holdens since then, and they’ve all been good, but that was the first – and not a good introduction to the brand.
So what was your worst car? We want to hear from you and we have a brand new TomTom ‘Live’ sat/nav to give away for the best story. Entries close 5th May, so let’s hear from you now and we’ll add your story to the blog. Just click below and tell us your tale.
April Fools Fun
There’s certainly a raging sense of humour in the automotive industry if manufacturers’ efforts to fool the public on April 1st are anything to go by.
We’ve come across some brilliant and rather extravagant dupes from around the world that fooled thousands of gullible viewers.
Let’s start off with Peugeot from the UK. They produced a news story on their RCZ sports car, where they claimed to have developed a ‘mood paint’. The car, we are told, changes colour to suit our moods. Sounds sensational, doesn’t it? But then suspicion kicks in when the presenter is a very professional young lady by the name of ‘Flora Polis’ (anagram experts take note). Anyway let’s hear what April Fool..sorry, Flora Polis has to say here.
Almost believable? Well, it certainly duped a lot of people, but Subaru were not to be outflanked when they announced the World’s first self-cleaning car on April 1st here.
Perhaps the most elaborate of all was the collaboration between Google and Nascar. Nascar are American oval racers and the most popular form of motor sport in the USA. Google we all know about. But many don’t know about the Google Driverless car. However, put the two together and this is what you get.
Glad to see that a sense of humour is alive and kicking, eh? So which do you think is the best, the funniest, or the most convincing? Do you have any April Fool japes to share with us?
Fab New Materials
Sit in a new car, and I wonder what materials you’ll find yourself seated on. Cleverly designed materials can ward off smells, resist stains, and even repel hair and other loose bits so that the vacuum cleaner can suck them away easily when it comes time for giving the car a good clean out. But take this a step further and imagine seats that have a high-tech fabric that can be part of a car’s communications system – think of this as being a bit like a voice control. Perplexed?
Recently, researchers at a polytechnic in Montreal have been intrigued by how fabrics could be used as part of a control structure for onboard computers and other systems. What some of the researchers have come up with is fascinating. They have devised a touch-sensitive fabric that reacts to finger swipes or touches. I guess some people could see this coming with touch screen computers, and such. It’s amazing that the fabric has been implanted with electronics, hooked up to software and, hey presto, you’ve got a surface that receives and gives messages.
The touch sensitive fabric could be used in a car as a potential smartphone system or it could even be used to control other car functions like the audio system. The audio system, for example, could have the volume adjusted by swiping or touching the side bolster of the seat.
Seat fabric materials would still need to have that classy feel about them to give the car luxury appeal; however a polymer-based fibre would be woven into the fabric so that an electrical charge is maintained. I assume this would still work for premium leather, cloth materials and a mixture of the two. When touched, the ability of the fabric to store the charge and feed the message into the software system for the desired outcome still has a little too much fluctuation happening in the laboratory. However, this is sure to be ironed out as the testing and refining work occurs.
BMW is interested in this technology. That’s not overly surprising, as BMW has always been a leader in using new technology inside their cars – particularly with their flagship Seven Series cars. A BMW spokesperson has said that they are looking at this type of technology for future application in their vehicles, so this is a big hint at what we will be seeing in cars of the future.
I can definitely see this type of technology being useful for electronic seat adjustment before the car is moving. Onboard systems that require a little more precise input might be somewhat of a nightmare to control from the seat fabric; however I’m all for trying out new things. It may, eventually, be a safer alternative to tap or touch your seat fabric while driving then to take your eyes off the road ahead to adjust something on your dash. Voice Control (VC) has definitely been a huge leap forward, maybe Seat Of Your Pants Touch Control (SOYPTC) will be another abbreviation to add to my list of new car features!
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