Sam Flemming in Advertising Age mentioned the scandal that Toyota has been embroiled in inside China, before a lot of the bad press it received in the occident over “unintended acceleration”.
This involved a netizen, an owner of a Toyota Highlander Sport, filming that his SUV was unable to get up a 30-degree incline, something which “lesser” models such as the Korean-built Renault Koleos, and even the subcompact Chery QQ—one of the cheapest cars around in China—could manage. The following news item reveals more. It’s in Mandarin and dates from December 22, 2009.
The news investigators show that even a Daewoo Lacetti (Buick Excelle in China) and a Chery van could manage the same slope, and confirm that the Highlander could not do it.
They are not alone. Jitendra Patel filmed this with his 2009 Highlander earlier last year:
As Sam says, this issue has brewed thanks to the Chinese internet which, while not as free as it is in most countries, still seems to create active consumers’ groups. People will rally as individuals if the cause is right—and consumers seem to be rediscovering their power, online.
Is it just me, or does it feel like the budget for Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei has been cut even more? This preview does not seem as spectacular as the last two seasons’ (and last season felt cheaper already). And where are Dieter and Horst?
Back on March 11 on RTL.
I may be later than many in writing about this, but I only saw it in my Tweetstream today.
What a welcome departure from the blood-and-gore approach of many road safety public announcements, from the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership.
The best quotation in the American media this week? In my opinion, it would have to be this:
Howard Stern is being considered to replace Simon Cowell when he leaves “American Idol” after this season.
Apparently Satan was out of Fox’s price range.
I can’t explain why I like the Steve McQueen Ford Puma ad and dislike this one with Audrey Hepburn, even though I think the world of both actors. In terms of tacky, I reckon this one takes the cake as a celebrity endorsement:
Come to think of it, this is worse. I believe the original was Japanese (I saw stills of this campaign many years ago), but this is in Mandarin:
Found on Pete’s Tumblr today. Can you believe it’s been 30 years since the man died? A few weeks later, John Lennon was murdered.
Very enjoyable, though I still like the old Ford Puma ad from a decade ago:
My American friends prefer a later Steve McQueen ad promoting the Mustang:
I still think the Ford Puma Bullitt one was the coolest. It has the quietness associated with McQueen. The Le Mans ad tells me: Lew, stick to your day job (great driver, not much of an actor). And the final one doesn’t do it for me, though I imagine it depends largely on which you saw first.
Not hard to see why this series, conceived by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, never took off. According to the YouTube description, The Investigator was a pilot from c. 1973, and no series was ever commissioned. The combination of live action and puppetry do not work nearly as well as in UFO, and the idea of miniaturized teenagers seem a bit preposterous. (I know there was a miniaturized character in The Secret Service, but at least it didn’t rely on him exclusively; and he could get back to normal size when the job was done.)
At least we know the hairstyles of the Supermarionation puppets went “1970s” to match the times.
I believe it is Shane Rimmer (whom Lewis Gilbert called the ‘standard American actor’) as John.
