Marketing
December 2, 2014, 9:42 pm
Pulling into the car wash the other day, I was behind an Armada. No, not a fleet of mercenary Spanish warships, this Armada was a towering vehicle with one occupant.
The Armada had the super, deluxe, extra car wash which meant that I had plenty of time to think about the names car models are given, names which pander to our various desires. None of these desires are even remotely automotive.
For those seeking to dazzle the world with their wealth and exclusivity, the industry offers the Regal, Enclave, Legacy, Impreza and Escalade. The later, no doubt, helps the buyer escalate to even higher levels of status.
The auto makers also market to environmentalists. Tree huggers get vehicles with short, often literal names. So head for a Spark, Volt, Cube or Leaf if you are feeling green.
Folks who have an inner cowboy or John Wayne complex are in luck as well. They can take their pick from the Colorado, Tucson, Santa Fe, Tahoe or Sedona. These metal beasts are perfect for hauling home a few steers from the local grocery store.
My husband comes from a Ford loving family and we have had our share of Henry’s cars. The Ford marketers try to brand their customers by throwing a flurry of “F’s” around…….Flex, Fiesta, Festiva, Focus, Fusion, Fairlane and Falcon. Note that I did not marry my husband because he was driving a white Fairlane convertible the night I meet him.
Our personal car history also includes my husband’s two most beautiful cars with the two most idiotic names, a Chevy Beretta and a Ford Probe.
I drive Rabbits, Accents and cars with small numbers like my Mazda 323. These are practical, unassuming cars with absolutely no cachet. Everything preys on a rabbit.
I’ve saved my all time favorite ridiculous car name for last. The first time I was driving behind a car that proclaimed itself to be a Juke, I blurted out to my husband, “How could anyone be paid a jillion dollars to come up with a name that rhymes with “puke”?
5 Comments for this entry
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Greetings and welcome...
The Suitcase Lady Blog is now in its fourteenth year. I am obviously a believer in these words from E. B. White. "We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry." Thank you for reading the writing that I delight in doing.
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December 2nd, 2014 on 10:08 PM
hahahah – very observant! And Ford’s with “f” names? So cool. And yes, we present ourselves to the world with our “Altima” – we try to live large . . .
December 2nd, 2014 on 10:24 PM
My first car was a banana yellow Pontiac LeMans station wagon. I always wondered what LeMans was trying to represent. The only non-vehicle reference I can find is, “a city in France”. If driving a 70’s banana yellow station wagon is comparable to a small village in France, I don’t need to go; or perhaps naming a car requires little thought.
December 3rd, 2014 on 9:10 AM
You must have had a very fast and nimble station wagon, Dan.
December 3rd, 2014 on 2:55 PM
Foes Probe sounds a bit obvious . . .
evie
December 3rd, 2014 on 9:09 PM
In the 50s Ford developed a new model and hired poet Marianne Moore to name it. She came up with Turtle Back. Needless to say, with turtle in its name it was a loser in a field of Armadas. It was named Edsel which proved a loser too as history has shown.