The outcome seemed to be that if you have a big car, you don't agree with the idea while if you don't have a big car, then you don't have anything against the idea.
Although the article also mentions Haringey in London, where the council proposed adding a 5% surcharge for medium sized vehicles (4-4.49m long), and a 10% surcharge for large vehicles which are allegedly over 4.5m long.
I wholeheartedly disagree with this idea.
It doesn't affect me in the slightest as I never park anywhere inside the M25 but my car is 4.761m long so it's the principle that counts.
Now if it were up to me, it wouldn't be the length of the vehicle that was used - it would be the height.
But then I've always had it in for cross-over SUVs.
Meanwhile, have you seen Jaguar's new concept car?
The opinions that has elicited seem to have fallen into three main categories:
It's woke
It's gay
It looks like Lady Penelope's car
I do have some sympathy for that third one.
The first two seem to have also been influenced by the recent Jaguar advert which was just too surreal and pretentious for my liking - like every single perfume ad - I really hate the Johnny Depp Sausage one.
(Not familiar with the work of PIG but I like their style)
People who think that car is "woke" need to invest in a dictionary - IT'S A CAR! I'm proud to be woke given that the alternative is being ignorant.
And those complaining about the gayness seem to be trying too hard - maybe a bit of insecurity about their own sexuality?
And there will only ever be one Jaguar advert for me, the one that appeared while I was a Jag owner.
At least I dislike the new ad for woke reasons. I dislike the car because it just looks wrong. It looks considerably better in a sensible colour.
But, much as I dislike cross-overs, I do think it helps to able to sit in a car without having to tilt your head.
This is apparently a VERY BAD ADVERT for the Audi RS4.
Audi used this still from an advert showing it as a family car on Twitter and had to apologise.
Now, in terms of showing off the speed and the attributes of the car, I can see that it is failing on all counts - but that isn't really a reason to apologise unless you are the advertising executive who suggested to Audi that they use it.
No, according to one Twitter user, it is sexually provocative:
"Let's add it up: Red=eroticism, sports car=substitute for potency, animal print mini-skirt=sex appeal, banana=phallic symbol. But sure this is all just accidental..."
Maybe I'm not as perverted as some of these Twitter users but I am really not seeing it.
Talking of getting offended by ads, the BBC had this story yesterday about how "A new campaign called 'Badvertising' is demanding an immediate end to adverts for large polluting cars."
They don't seem to mind small polluting cars.
The campaign wants the Government to clamp down on sports utility vehicle (SUV) car adverts in the way it curbed smoking ads. Now, I'd quite like to ban SUVs - including the electric ones - but that's nothing to do with environmental concerns.
I looked up Badvertising on Google - I don't think it's anything to do with this lot. I eventually found them here. They are also worried about the impact of outdoor advertising signage in its own right -
"Outdoor advertising such as giant billboards, digital screens, and panels placed at bus stops and other places for public transport, are particularly problematic because unlike other mediums, we have no choice over whether we view them or not."
But when you are out and about, you are in the marketplace - I'd much rather that than have the advertisers come round to my front door.
The group behind the campaign are a worthy enough bunch of academics and artists and I wish them well - but they aren't going to convince the Mail Readers if they haven't convinced a Leftie like me - although maybe the fact I'm a Leftie Car-lover has something to do with that.
Advertising doesn't work on me anyway. Now, I could just go a banana.
The thing that attracted me to this Car+Driver story is that it means I don't have to mention Coronavirus.
Because it's got absolutely nothing to do with Coronavirus.
It starts back in early February - this was before the West got too concerned about Coronavirus.
Oh Bugger.
Anyway, Car+Driver tried out Hyundai's "Smart Park" self-parking system as demonstrated by an advert in the middle of The Super Bowl. That story is here. Here is their still from that ad:
The bloke without the coffee is impressing the bloke who looks like him but does have coffee by allowing his Hyundai Sonata to park itself into a narrow gap.
Now, being me, I was more interested in the very badly parked car to the right of it. Now it had obviously been very badly parked by somebody connected to the advert in order to demonstrate the parking feature of the Sonata.
But, in the real World, you wouldn't want to use that feature in this case because the moron who can't park is almost certain to damage your car by:
a) trying to get in to his own car and
b) trying to reverse out into the road
But, back to that car itself. I spent ages trying to work out what the hell it actually is. It sort of looks vaguely familiar in an old Jeep Cherokee or perhaps Nissanish sort of way - but it has a strange R logo on it so it's either a make that we don't have in Britain that Americans would identify straight off or it's an old Hyundai (or Kia) that the ad people have disguised so as not to distract viewers from the Sonata.
Well that didn't work.
And, judging by the article that led me to write this, the Smart Park can't be trusted either.
It's called "The Tower" and features Volvo Trucks Chairman Roger Alm stood on top of the top one of four Volvo Trucks being driven through a spot of rain.
The Car+Driver item also features a feature on the making of The Tower:
Apparently, "Despite offering more powerful, comfort, and safety than ever before, the new Lexus LS 500 has a base price that is $3,820 less than its current long-wheelbase predecessor."
Also, "The Interior Upgrade Package adds quilted-stitch, perforated semi-aniline leather-trimmed interior, 28-way power driver’s seat with multifunction massage, power front seatbelt buckles, heated rear seats, and more for $3,730."
Unfortunately, "The Interior Upgrade Package is not available on the F Sport model."
Autoguide rather hopefully add, "Discuss this story on our Lexus Forum"
The 2018 Honda Accord looks quite good in a the-front-radiator-grille-has-fallen-off sort of way.
But we won't be able to buy it in Britain. In fact we haven't been able to buy a new Accord since 2015. That sector of the market has been taken over by the luxury Germans on one side and the Mazda 5 and Hyundai/Kia i40/Optima on the other side. You don't even see Mondeos on Ford forecourts nowadays.
Meanwhile, in the land where you can still buy a new Accord, a 1996 version is doing very well thank you on an auction site thanks to a very professional advert made by a professional film-maker.
The second is what we were enjoying in the UK at about the same time. Probably not the first time I've linked to it - but it is one of my all-time favourite car ads thanks to getting Brian May on board.
A couple of Mercedes self-driving stories caught my eye today.
Looks like they've been a bit naughty in their advertising Stateside. Autoguide have the story here. Mercedes have been forced to pull a TV ad for the E-Class in which a narrator says,
“Is the world truly ready for a vehicle that can drive itself? Ready or not, the future is here.”
The ad also shows the driver removing his hands from the steering wheel, leading to the argument that people will believe the car is full self-driving.
Meanwhile the small-print caption on the ad states,
“Vehicle cannot drive itself, but has automated driving features. The system will remind the driver frequently to keep hands on the steering wheel. Always observe safe driving practices and obey all road traffic regulations.”
Hmmm. I can see why it was dropped.
This doesn't bode well when the you read the second story, found in Car+Driver here. The headline reads "Mercedes-Benz and Tesla See a Future in Electric Self-Driving Buses" The story goes on to talk about The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, a semi-automated city bus with a technology suite that can allow it to journey up to 12.4 miles without a need for the driver to touch the steering, accelerator, or brake pedal. The Future Bus can spot obstacles and pedestrians, follow lane markings, and function as part of a new Bus Rapid Transit system.
It looks nice too...
I wonder what the small-print says - this bus won't journey up to 12.4 miles without a need for the driver to touch the steering, accelerator, or brake pedal and it can't spot obstacles and pedestrians, follow lane markings, and function as part of a new Bus Rapid Transit system?
And I bet it can't do what this Chilean bus-driver did:
I loved the Jaguar ads from last year pointing out how all the best baddies in American films had British accents.
I particularly loved it because I have a Jaguar AND a British accent.
Now they've gone one better and got a British genius (and yes I am using that word correctly) to advertise the Jaguar F-Pace:
Now I know he does have an American accent and appears in American shows like The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory.
But you would have to be a complete moron to think he was American.
I wonder how many readers of Investor's Business Daily didn't bat an eyelid in 2009 when, in an editorial, they claimed that he "wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."
I read this non-story today about people complaining about some new LED advertising signs put up near the Liverpool end of the M62 motorway:
I say "people". It is actually the ABD, the Alliance of British Drivers, an organisation I was unimpressed by three years ago. They are probably upset because one of them missed the speed camera on the motorway in that area because they were busy reading whatever it was displaying an advert for.
The Liverpool Echo covered the plans for the signs back in June although the location was a bit different and the main objection then was "due their size, elevated location and that they will be illuminated,
which we consider would have a significant detrimental impact on the
local community – both to local residents and local amenities.”:
The picture looked good though.
I'm not seeing any real dangers myself - they are not moving pictures (like I saw in November '14 when both the adverts AND the pictures were moving) and it is claimed that lighting levels are controlled.
At least no real dangers unless Wonderbra revisit a certain advertising campaign from 1994. Hello Boys.
The story is here. I think it is great fun and derserves more Youtube hits.
Note that this video has the sobriquet "CLEAN VERSION". That will be because there is a naughty word bleeped out.
At the bottom of that Autoguide Mitsubishi story is a link to another Autoguide Mitsubishi story that includes a video that contains a lot of swearing.
But when you watch it, you may just understand why.
caradvice.co.au have this story today about a new Peugeot 208 commercial being shown in Brazil.
Here's the ad to enjoy...
It is enjoyable apart from the fiery deaths of The Anthill Mob and the Red Max. Interesting to see the Anthill Mob had an Hispano Suiza as well - and Muttley actually looked quite cute at the end.
For those of you who were not car-mad children of the '70s, you may need to check out this Wiki Wacky page to learn about my favouritest ever Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
There were only 17 episodes made, each covering two races. My favourite car was always number 2, the Creepy Coupe driven by The Gruesome Twosome - I haven't got a clue why.
I always felt that car number 2 didn't win very often but, thanks to some sad person on the Wiki page, I now know that they won 3 races and would have come 4th overall if championship points were awarded according to 1968 F1 rules.
The voices were mostly performed by four actors:
Paul Winchell – Dick Dastardly, Private Meekly, Clyde
Don Messick – Muttley, Gravel Slag, Little Gruesome, Prof Pat Pending
Daws Butler – Big Gruesome, Red Max, Sergeant Blast, Peter Perfect
Janet Waldo – Penelope Pitstop
and this is what they looked like:
Interesting eh?
