Yes, there is an entire Website devoted only to submitted pictures of people flipping off the Hummer H2. Few gas-guzzling, not-even -very-good -off-road tax shelters have inspired so much hate. I wonder why.
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19 comments:
I spend a lot of time on blogs (thanks boss!!) and it seems people are searching for stuff to get outraged by these days. On Crooks & Liars Tuesday someone posted a picture of the gas pump after a Hummer left the total was $132 for 40 gallons. Man did the comments get nasty. Them haters need to take a hike or somthing.
-Teleken
What's that law called where eventually, in all Web forums, someone compares the opposing view to the Nazis at Auschwitz?
Hummer brought it all on themselves. I feel no pity for them. Their entire brand image is based on the attitude of "screw you, I'll buy what I want, I'll do what I want".
It was intentional targeted marketing on their part. That is no secret.
Hummer sowed the seeds of divisiveness. Now they're getting it back in spades. I say you reap what you sow.
It's Godwin's Law, Dave.
And the Hummer thing is pretty funny. Why not flip off Landcruisers (although, to be fair, Landcruisers are a hell of a lot better offroad than an H2)?
In response to Zen, the weird thing about the Hummer brand is that the commercials were exactly the opposite of what you say. Hummer always had the super cool, super hip hippy dippy spots like the soap box racer and the twirling H2's and so on. I've always thought that those had to be the best, least-effective ads ever, since they clearly were targeting Subaru or Prius drivers or something. Very weird.
Andy you should look for a copy of "High & Mighty: SUVs: The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way", written by Keith Bradsher of the NY Times.
Bradsher is no liberal mouthpiece. He is a well respected journalist, who in 1997 won the George Polk Award for national reporting and was a finalist for the Pulizer the same year for his coverage of SUVs & the SUV industry. He was the Detroit Burean Chief for the NYT from 1996-2002 which culminated in the release of "High & Mighty" in late 2002.
I do agree that Hummer is not alone here. But they are the symbol on which everyone focuses. Mostly because they launched the H2 right when this nation's post 9/11debate about our foreign oil dependence & BushCo's sabre rattling & fearmongering over Iraq were reaching their zenith. Not to mention that Hummer is the vehicle of choice for the US military. And unlike other car companies who can at least point to their token subcompacts in their pleas for leniency, Hummer had only the H1 and H2 - both bloated wasteful gas hogs.
Plus we cannot forget that GM/Hummer were front and center in pushing for Bush's extension & expansion of the large vehicle tax credit for small business owners, a huge government handout that heavily favored large SUV sales.
No question it was all piss poor timing on Hummer's part & a major strategic error.
But then Hummer backed up their bad timing with an even worse ad campaign. Namely the grossly narcissistic & and evironmentally irresponsible ad campaign you refer to, which is best symbolized by Happy Jack's soap box race - an ad mind you which not only angered environmentalists but also incensed many in the offroad community's Tread Lightly movement for Hummer's needless glorification of shortcutting across trackless land which is exactly what Jack did to win the race.
Though to be fair I will concede that in marketing their product, Hummer was simply doing what all companies do. That is, basing their ads on their industry's internal market research. But unfortunately for Hummer, the picture that research paints in not something any of us should feel good about promoting.
To quote Bradsher's summary of that reseach, it said "[SUV owners] tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communitites ... They are more restless, more sybaric, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."
And to quote GM Engineer Fred J. Schaafsma, "SUV owners want to be more like, 'I'm in control of the people around me' ... With the sport utility buyers, it's more of an image thing. Sport utility buyers tend to be more like, 'I wonder how people view me,' and are more willing to trade off flexibility or funtionality to get that."
Now to be fair to GM/Hummer, others in the industry say similar things. Speaking of SUV owners, Jim Bulin, a former Ford marketing strategist, said, "It's about not letting anything get in your way and, in the extreme, about intimidating others to get out of your way."
But you see what I'm getting at here.
Like I said Hummer really dug its own grave here. With many different shovels. If they get buried in it, I will feel no remorse for Hummer. But I will be bad for the workers who are destined to lose their jobs because of this company's grossly selfish and irresponsible ways.
Jim Bulin, a former Ford marketing strategist, said, "It's about not letting anything get in your way and, in the extreme, about intimidating others to get out of your way."
This is the part that gets my blood boiling when I'm driving around town (I shouldn't let it, but that's a work in progress). There are sooooo many brain dead large SUV and truck owners who buy into the marketing b.s. and take the above attitude with them on the road. I can't count the number of times I've been tailgated (in traffic, no less, where there's nowhere to go) by these intellectually stunted individuals.
OMG! Zen . . . you hit the nail on the head with your quote of:
"Bradsher's summary of that reseach, it said "[SUV owners] tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communitites ... They are more restless, more sybaric, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."
And to quote GM Engineer Fred J. Schaafsma, "SUV owners want to be more like, 'I'm in control of the people around me' ... With the sport utility buyers, it's more of an image thing. Sport utility buyers tend to be more like, 'I wonder how people view me,' and are more willing to trade off flexibility or functionality to get that."
That's my husband in a nutshell! Opposites might attract but they sure aren't happy campers . . . after 19 years of marriage (don't buy into that old adage!) I'm sooo glad to have more insight into why I don't get along with that man! I love to volunteer and HATE waste (yes, HATE it!)
TEND to be people who are insecure and vain? They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood!
they are (apt? No! TOTALLY) self-centered! and self-absorbed,(the world revolves around me!!) with little interest in their neighbors and communities ... They are more restless, more sybaric, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, (never has his SUV been "off-road" - oh, maybe on a dirt road going to the lake or drive-in or through the construction zone.
Oh, blah, blah, blah . . . counseling might be a good thing or ??? not!
I've really got to read the Bradsher article! Thanks for quoting him . . . it's helped me see more of what I'm dealing with.
MissyJ
you all suck balls!!! HUMMERS RULE in your face bitches
The H2 is not any bigger than a Expedition, Tahoe, Sequoia, F-150, Silverado or Tundra or any other full-sized vehicle. and in most cases get better gas mileage They just get a bum wrap. Whenever I hear someone single out Hummer, I know I am talking to an uninformed moron.
not everyone who buys one is a person who just wants to be looked at!!! i need to tow 7000lb and a hybrid just wont do it.. how do i know that? well because i also own a Prius
Read this haters.
http://www.impactlab.com/2007/03/14/prius-outdoes-hummer-in-environmental-damage/
For all of you haters out there: Stop over generalizing. There are good people that also happen to be Hummer owners. Some have even tried to retrofit their Hummer to be more Eco-friendly. Or is it better to have them waste the truck to purchase a new better Eco-friendly one? And Yes, there are Hummer owners that devote time to charities. Some of us tow trailers for victims of tragedy's and transport many donation items to those less fortunate. Some of us have pulled cars out of flood waters. We are not all self-absorbed, egotistical, Eco-friendless people. I for one make up for my carbon imprint in many other ways. Specifically, I have solar panels on my roof of my house, bamboo flooring throughout, dual flush toilets, etc. - can you say that? And I do not do it to be trendy like so many others profess. I do it, because it is the right thing to do. The hummer does serve many purposes and is not the only SUV out their that guzzles gas. As far as being tailgated and driving issues, there are good drivers and bad. I have had two ocassions when my Hummer was backed into while it was parked. Stop being so simple minded and ignorant. Start making your mind up about a person when you meet them and stop being haters just because of what they drive. If that is the case then people may be making the same determination about you. Should we all do this? Judge poor people, because all they could purchase to drive to work is a beater - does this make them worthless or crappy, because that is their car? When there is an Eco-friendly truck out there that can do the job I will be one of the first to purchase. Just please think about it haters!!
get a life everybody
I would love it if somebody flipped me off in my hummer
I'd with 100% certainty run them off the road
rip them out of their car jam a wifleballbat up their rear
, the fat end to not the comfortable end, put their teethe on the curb and smash their god%^*# brains with my 8000 pound h2 and drive of whistling , with not one ounce of a
feeling of anything......food for thought
i sure am glad every one hates these trucks it just makes me want to buy one even more just to piss people off :)
I love my hummer and you are retarded little bed wetting fuctards
trees love my hummer cuz It provide lot of carbon dioxide for them.oh,since when people call Co2 pollutant
"Some good people own a Hummer"???
I don't think so!
Every Hummer I have ever seen has had a short-arsed insecure-looking small-penised steroid-happy gym-bunny driving it, and they always seem to be wearing gold jewelry - probably because they are homosexual.
Who cares people, ride a bike, plant a tree, move on
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