Ford ran a commercial here in Texas at the beginning of game two of the World Series last night selling the message that their F-150 pickup trucks are both tough and safe. You can see the ad at iSpot, which describes the message of the commercial:
Mom and Dad have differing priorities when it comes to their children’s football game. Dad puts safety first and makes sure shoulder pads are secured and helmets are fastened tightly. However, Momma’s building champions. She tells them to be the hammer, not the nail, and she sends them on their way. Ford demonstrates how safety and toughness complement each other in both sports and in its F-150 model.
What iSpot doesn’t note in their summary* is that the commercial is supposed to be funny. We are supposed to be shocked that the commercial for pickup trucks (a product associated with men and manliness), about a football game in Texas, has flipped the roles for mom and dad. Our reaction is supposed to be:
Ha ha, dad is the one mothering the sons, and mom is the one teaching them to be tough and manly!
But the joke doesn’t work, because there is nothing counter cultural about presenting fathers as effeminate and mothers as butch. In emasculating the Texas fathers they hope will buy their pickup trucks, Ford is merely going with the flow. Ford is following the lead of Angel Soft, which shows that real fathers shave their legs, and JP Morgan Chase & Co., which as Ad Age explains has redefined what it means to be a father:
Dads can be heroes in many ways — and, according to JP Morgan Chase & Co., that could mean putting on makeup and a wig and donning a tutu to play the fairy princess at a birthday party
None of these commercials are truly edgy. They are merely parroting the approved narrative. What would be edgy, and truly counter-cultural, is if Ford showed fathers as masculine and mothers as feminine. The Ford truck ad isn’t funny because it could be no other way. Imagine the same ad with the roles reversed. Picture the commercial as the “traditional” narrative Ford is ostensibly poking at. Imagine if the mother were the one gently mothering her sons and focusing on their safety gear, and if the father were the parent urging his sons to be aggressive. And of course, imagine if the father smacked the mother on the ass at the end of the commercial. That would be shocking and edgy, because in our culture it simply can’t be done.
Related: It could be no other way.
*iSpot characterizes the mood of the commercial as “Funny” in the specs section of the page.
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Despite being somewhat of a parody himself, the manliest TV father I’ve ever seen is Hank Hill.
What was called “traditional” 25 years ago is now countercultural. The Ford advert agency is beating a dead horse. They just do not realize it yet.
What was “countercultural” in the last century is now “traditional” more often than not, too.
It was shown in DC as well, which makes me think it’s a national ad in this case.
Isn’t the wife also Asian? Trying to “undo another stereotype” there, I guess, as well.
Just like commercials and sitcoms where the father is a dumb, out of touch, buffoon who can’t do the most simple of operations and the mother knows everything and makes sure to give him a disapproving look for being an idiot. It’s supposed to be funny and sell things…not promote an agenda.
The only problem Hank has is Peggy.
“Isn’t the wife also Asian? Trying to “undo another stereotype” there, I guess, as well.”
Except for their reputation as aggressive, controlling succeed at all costs “Tiger moms” which this ad completely reinforces which makes it kind of raciss.
Reality: Who is on Capitol Hill “decrying” the brain damage of players from football? Women.
Reality: Who every year tells us “violence” against women goes up every Sunday during football season because men are “beating their wives and girlfriends” because they didn’t make him a sandwich or bring his beer to him cold enough? Women.
Reality: Who championed “everybody-gets-a-trophy” and the lack of competitive sports across the country…..INCLUDING Texas? Women.
Reality: GM, Ford, and Chrysler should actually focus on building a decent truck like they did pre 1974 in this country.
Ford Man tough? This approach to marketing would have been far better used to sell the Hybrids to millennials.
By the way, Ford trucks are all aluminum body panels now, including the bed.
GM’s latest trucks use a lot of aluminum body panels but the truck bed is still mostly steel.
It’s more complicated to weld aluminum than steel. Just saying.
“Grasshopper, the answer you seek is in Ford’s sales figures…”
Love the title Ministry of Humor.
Litany for the Two Minutes’ Hate:
Celebrant: Why do we laugh?
People: We laugh because this is funny.
Celebrant: Let us laugh together with great heartiness.
All: Ha. Ha. Ha.
They should have a disclaimer at the bottom of the ad” “Please get permission from your wife before buying a manly truck:
@Novaseeker
Interesting. That was my original assumption, but when I found the ad in iSpot it starts as it does here in Texas:
Does it start that way in DC?
It did. I assumed that was because the Astros are in the WS, but who knows?
“And of course, imagine if the father smacked the mother on the ass at the end of the commercial. That would be shocking and edgy… ”
Dad gives mom a wink, mom smiles back, they start walking toward the truck… which is equipped with a camper top.
That would be epic.
@Dalrock
“None of these commercials are truly edgy.”
I think that is what they actually mean when they say they’re “funny.”
You’ve been writing a lot about trends in advertising recently, so I thought I’d share an insider’s perspective. In this podcast episode, two LA ad men talk surprisingly honestly about gender-fluid and other liberal-leaning biases in advertising. One of them suggests its a breach of a corporation’s fiduciary duty to create advertising that intentionally alienates such a large portion of its customer base. An interesting concept.
https://nahf.podbean.com/e/libtard-advertising/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/libtard-advertising/id1049308545?i=1000384998499&mt=2
Some company I never heard of ran a commercial during the World Series last night that showed the Apollo moon capsule, caption “Dark Side of the Moon, 1971”. Inside the capsule? A Zany Black guy and a clearly lesbian blonde chick with the shaved-head skrillix hairdo. Hmmm, 1971, Apollo-to-the-moon. That was men, they were Navy pilots and the enlistment contracts all demanded heterosexuals in the program back then, Lesbians and gay Black men not invited. I guess they got past the Hidden Figures on the way out to the launch pad.
GM, Ford, and Chrysler should actually focus on building a decent truck like they did pre 1974 in this country.
I’ve reached the conclusion over the last year that producing a quality product or service that can be sold for a profit in response to consumer demand is no longer a priority for Americsn businesses. Enforcing SJW norms while simultaneously manipulating stock prices and company valuation in order to garner a buyout from the highest bidder (in order to enrich ownership) is now all that matters.
Compare and contrast with Chevy’s 2015 ad
When Ford wants to sell men a truck,
Pluck a pansy right out of the ruck,
Don’t worry. Don’t fret. Because mom has a set,
But the sons are now sh*t out of luck.
Despite being somewhat of a parody himself, the manliest TV father I’ve ever seen is Hank Hill.
Al Bundy, hands down.
Pickups are status symbols, not work tools, at least for most people who own them. I read that the big 3 will soon be offering $100K pickups. Being that the current top of the line $60K pickups already have every option imaginable, I can’t even begin to think what they will add to them for the extra 40K? A gold plated dashboard?
Not really…he had a lot of red pill truth, but I wouldn’t call him manly based on the life he was living.
Info on the Open Hypergamy Chevy truck commercial:
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7xYY/2015-chevrolet-colorado-super-bowl-2015-focus-group-sexier
Every car ad with wuss-boy dad and bad-ass mom makes me think back to this one. It has to be an all time classic of the genre:
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AdhQ/2016-kia-sorento-built-for-football-families-pants
Something not mentioned regarding the ad, it’s advocating for spousal sexual harassment if not assault when she smacks his ass and he jumps in surprise indicating he clearly had not given prior consent.
Another one for comparison, from a few years back:
Frank K @ 12:17 pm:
” I read that the big 3 will soon be offering $100K pickups. Being that the current top of the line $60K pickups already have every option imaginable, I can’t even begin to think what they will add to them for the extra 40K? A gold plated dashboard?”
Carpool lane access.
http://www.fjcforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16548&d=1407317501
The father should have dressed like this –
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/satanic-looking-drag-queen-reads-to-children-at-library-named-for-michelle
Speaking of commercials, there have been many of them starring little girls lately, so I’ve been wondering when there would be a commercial starring a little boy. Well huzzah! I finally saw one:
And on top of that, wifey smacks hubby in the ads. Reminds me of the movie Little Giants, where the Icebox gets smacked on the ass by the cute quarterback and she definitely enjoys it. Maybe it’s not appropriate, but a movie like the Little Giants would not be made today. Yet, it’s ok for women to get hypersexual, in front of children no less.
And speaking of, Rooms to Go made a commercial using a version of the Black Eyed Peas’ My Humps. Yeah, let’s just grab a song that talks about asses because we have no imagination.
“Despite being somewhat of a parody himself, the manliest TV father I’ve ever seen is Hank Hill.”
“Al Bundy, hands down.”
Ward Cleaver was no Beta slouch. Further, June Cleaver was no ball bustin’ pain in the ass like Hank’s and Al’s wives, a plus. Ward simply wouldn’t have allowed it from her. Remember too, just before that, Ricky Ricardo used to bend Lucy over his knee and spank her to tears, heh..The times they changed mid seventies, late 60s, even.
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I saw this same Ford commercial it seems like a few weeks ago in a different context. I can’t remember where. It might have been on youtube.
But here’s the thing–when is this going to jump the shark?
Dalrock, you are absolutely correct in your assessment. This is not funny, precisely because it is not edgy, as it is trying to be. Its like saying “guys with money get girls! Isn’t that super edgy?!”
Don’t they focus-group these things? I mean, at what point is the meme going to lose its flavor? I am totally unable to relate to this commercial in the way they want me to, and I never will. This website and Rollos probably get tens of thousands of hits a month, maybe more? And there is no end in sight to this stuff?
I mean, I am not even “offended” by it or anything, because its so stupid.
I am also not talking about boycotts or anything like that. Its just, at some point, some person in mainstream America or advertising or sitcoms with some clout (and some balls) has got raise their hand and say “hey, um, it kind of seems like the goofy/effeminate/retarded dad to the bad ass/snarky/manly wife thing has run its course.”
We just don’t even have TV in our house, so problem solved for us, but geez.
Here’s a couple of inside ad world guys talking about this very issue. The answer is that yes, they do conduct extensive focus groups. Somehow this crap still sneaks through. https://nahf.podbean.com/e/libtard-advertising/
Scott —
I think what it is, is that they are trying to use wives to sell trucks to the men. I don’t think that that ad is trying to speak directly to men, at least not to the men who typically buy trucks. They’re trying to reach their wives, and get the wives to convince them to buy that truck. Hence the smack on the butt, hence the role reversal, hence the text-over about high safety ratings. It’s aimed at women.
I’d bet that women won’t see the ad as edgy (it isn’t in terms of what is presented), but will find it funny because even if women don’t prefer it in their own relationships, women lap it up when other women put men in their place on the screen.
The one Rollo linked to on open hypergamy was actually still trying to sell to men (“see, guys, get this truck and be the guy she leaves her beta for!”), but this ad is selling to women, the WAGs, to get them to convince their husbands/BFs to buy this truck.
They’re trying to reach their wives, and get the wives to convince them to buy that truck.
I am going to conduct an experiment. I will show this commercial to Mychael tonight. We are a Ford family–probably one of the last brand loyal families on earth. I will try to figure out by asking her some questions if it has the intended affect. My guess is, it will lower her opinion of Ford trucks.
I will report back either here or do a post on my site.
@ Frank K says:
October 26, 2017 at 12:17 pm
“I read that the big 3 will soon be offering $100K pickups. Being that the current top of the line $60K pickups already have every option imaginable, I can’t even begin to think what they will add to them for the extra 40K? A gold plated dashboard?”
I just configured a Ford F-250 Diesel for $73,845, and I wasn’t even through half the options. Give it a shot. It’s easy.
https://shop.ford.com/build/superduty/
Lol, one advert telling you to buy their pickup to become the beta and the other telling you to buy their pickup to become the alpha that the beta’s wife will leave him for. If that doesn’t make you laugh, not much will!
Scott
I will show this commercial to Mychael tonight.
Y’all are not the target market.
AR–
This is probably true. My balls are not in Mychaels purse.
Tony
The answer is that yes, they do conduct extensive focus groups. Somehow this crap still sneaks through.
It’s not sneaking. Not an accident. Not a mistake. It’s intentional.
My father was a carpenter, joiner, construction worker, foreman. Union man his whole life. He always drove a Dodge truck because (they were the smallest of the big-three, you could actually negotiate a deal) and he beat the snot out them, and they took a beating (like a Ford, Chevrolet or GMC did back in that time as well). He also used the truck for hauling cows, camping and driving it on fire roads and me and my two brothers always rode in the back truck bed when going on a road trip (illegal now)
After he bought a brand new 1987 Dodge 3/4 ton truck for $17,500 and by 1995 was looking to buy one more before he retired….he said “The hell with it. I’ll keep driving this one all of them look like cars now on the inside…and the cost is almost twice what I paid in 1987. If I wanted a Chrysler “New Yorker” interior inside my truck, I would go buy a Chrysler New Yorker, and forget Chevy and Ford, they cost even more and I’m not paying for that. Dodge used to make a truck…last of the big three that made a truck for that purpose….”
He drove that 1987 Dodge until 2005 when it rusted so badly, it could not pass NYS safety inspection. He bought a refurbished / restored 1972 Dogde 1/2 ton after mother died and still drives it now.
@ seventiesjason
People pay huge money for fully restored classic trucks these days. http://www.icon4x4.com/
My only complaint about my Fords has been the auto locking front hubs always seem to fail after about 5-7 years and you have to get out and manually lock them. But I have never had one leave me stranded and I am on my 9th one now.
And yes, it would be cool if they would stop making the insides so nice. Mine always has goat/horse/chicken crap/mud ground into the carpet. All I really want is comfortable seats, AC, and reliable cup holders. The rest is stupid.
“Imagine if the mother were the one gently mothering her sons and focusing on their safety gear, and if the father were the parent urging his sons to be aggressive. ”
Now that would give me the warm fuzzies and make me want to buy the truck.
OT: Science confirms the obvious. Men find a woman’s arched back attractive.
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/10/25/Its-science-Men-women-both-attracted-to-arched-backs/9471508951678/
In related news, slouching is unattractive. Also, chicks dig wealthy jerks.
Oscar. I am just about all things that isn’t my father.
My father could overhaul and restore a truck on his own, his age now really prevents him….the old goat is now 80 and on no medications, and can live independently…but he has slowed down a bit. My dad built custom furniture for people. My dad was a man that could fix anything. My dad was a man that could build his own house (which he did, the one I grew up in….he built it in 1969). My father seemed to be a man who could do anything. He was not an abusive man, nor was he really outspoken. He didn’t cuss in front of us kids, nor my mother (but on the job…watch out!)
We were never a “rah-rah” father n’ son team. I was my mothers son. However……..the times my father and I did get along were camping. hiking. canoeing. I still think back to a few times every summer growing up……..dad and I would take a long weekend and do outdoor stuff together. The best memory I have of dad is when we hiked Mt. Marcy, the tallest mountain in New York State. I still think back on this great hike and time I had with him. All it took was a tank of gas, and his time. Canoeing rapids on the North Hudson. Camping on top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire that early fall day…….and getting snowed in! Skiing together at Whiteface Mt and so many days of a day trip to a Adirondack pond or lake; packing the canoe several miles from the trailhead and just enjoying the silent beauty. My father instilled a very deep love, respect and enjoyment of nature. I am not danger junkie, or “extreme outdoor sports” guy (no free-rock-climbing Half-Dome, or mountain biking some “amazing” trail). I am a sport outdoorsman and I am so grateful the old man and I have something, or at least one thing in common to this day.
We get along okay, and we have a better relationship now than when I was a younger man for sure.
I am not a truck guy, and never was. I am a “scooter” guy, and if I did buy a four-wheel vehicle, it would probably be a 1970’s era Jeep. My father still is puzzled by “what I turned into” as an adult; but he is damn proud of me concerning the outdoors. As for a truck? If I had to buy one, I would buy a Ford. They didn’t take any bailout money in 2008 / 2009 😉
Ok show of hands. How many dudes went to Oscars link to see chicks with arched backs?
slowly raises hand
Well since you mentioned it…..
As much as I hate to admit it, I take the question in the ad to be a compliment to Texas, acknowledging that Texans know how to pick a good pickup.
Bonobos are all about AF-BB.
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/07/10/In-bonobo-communities-just-a-few-males-monopolize-reproduction/3531499718904/?st_rec=9471508951678
In my rare forays into entertainment, I’ll look at a lot of shows for what might interest me. Then I’ll start to watch the pilot episode. This is where 99% of my watching stops, since the theme of the tough chick being the man of the series – the hero – exists almost universally. It’s worn and tiresome.
When the same theme is repeated in commercials, it’s also tiresome.
When that same theme – tough wife, tough lady boss, tough female role model, tough female super hero – gets constantly propagated through society, it’s when men get tired of it.
Then, well, the feminist party is over….
Ok show of hands. How many dudes went to Oscars link to see chicks with arched backs?
(Raising both hands)✋✋
Yeah but my question is how are men going to be shamed for liking that on a woman? I’m sure science also confirms men like non-obese women more than obese.
We just don’t even have TV in our house, so problem solved for us, but geez.
This month I celebrate two years without (cable or satellite) teevee, and I can say enthusiastically that not only do I not miss it, but that restoring it would probably induce an allergic reaction. Even though I miss my baseball games and classic movie channel, the freedom from the deluge of digital sewage passed off as entertainment –and “advertisements”– more than makes up for it.
“This is where 99% of my watching stops, since the theme of the tough chick being the man of the series ”
In the new Star trek satire series, The Orville, the strongest (by far) crewmember is a petite alien named Alara, who laments in an episode that none of the crewmen want to date her because she’s so strong. This show is so PC and SJW that it’s cringe worthy.
I do love how on SciFi shows it’s almost always a given that humans and humanoid aliens have compatible plumbing and would even find each other attractive.
Scott @ 1:43 pm:
“But here’s the thing–when is this going to jump the shark?”
Three more years per the Misandry Bubble’s prediction. That would be Donald Trump’s reelection year… sounds right.
I wonder if Hillary will run against him again? #ImWithIt
The pickup owners on our street are a lesbian couple, so the ad may be appealing to pickup buyers.
In the new Star trek satire series, The Orville, the strongest (by far) crewmember is a petite alien named Alara, who laments in an episode that none of the crewmen want to date her because she’s so strong. This show is so PC and SJW that it’s cringe worthy.
I haven’t seen it, but I am aware that it is supposed to be making fun of Trek, so that sounds pretty appropriate to me since Trek, especially in its iterations after the 60s series, has been ridiculously, over-the-top PC to the core.
I’ve long noticed the usual “comedic twist” on TV and movies of a petite female “unexpectedly” beating, or beating up, a much stronger male.
Monty Python did a twist on that “twist,” and it was hilarious:
How many dudes went to Oscars link to see chicks with arched backs?
Not me. And anyway what’s with that crazy swimsuit she’s wearing?
Feeriker, January 1, 2018 will mark four years since I’ve had TV in my home. The peace in my home is a gift that keeps on giving. Also freedom. Freedom from an insidious evil.
”And of course, imagine if the father smacked the mother on the ass at the end of the commercial”
Husbands have a lot to learn from Chads.
@ seventiesjason says:
October 26, 2017 at 3:36 pm
“the times my father and I did get along were camping. hiking. canoeing.”
That explains a lot. As long as you have activities you enjoy with your father, that’s a very good thing.
@ Scott says:
October 26, 2017 at 3:37 pm
“Ok show of hands. How many dudes went to Oscars link to see chicks with arched backs?”
Well, that’s how Instapundit got me to click on the link in the first place, so…
As long as women control the checkbook, ads will pander to women, and the women with the biggest checkbooks are (not coincidentally) more often in a marriage characterized by traditional gender roles. They don’t need to be a majority, they just need to be where the money is, and they are.
Globalist (and thus cultural marxist) politics still serve as a status symbol among UMC women (the ones with the money).
I wonder if Hillary will run against him again? #ImWithIt
Highly doubtful she’ll even be alive by that point.
Frank K wrote (October 26, 2017 at 6:05 pm:
Heh.
@ earlthomas786 says:
October 26, 2017 at 6:02 pm
“Yeah but my question is how are men going to be shamed for liking that on a woman?”
Behold!
“I’m sure science also confirms men like non-obese women more than obese.”
The best part is the mother is Asian, you know, to make it more Tiger Mother realistic. And then she slaps her husband on the ass. No country for interracial couples.
I find it funny that on every TV show and movie…..a woman picks up a gun and knows instinctively how to use it and “kicks ass” at least in 1986 Bill Paxton had it right in “Aliens”
seventiesjason said:
After [my dad] bought a brand new 1987 Dodge 3/4 ton truck for $17,500 and by 1995 was looking to buy one more before he retired….he said “The hell with it. I’ll keep driving this one all of them look like cars now on the inside…and the cost is almost twice what I paid in 1987.”
Has anybody else noticed, after giving it some thought, that American cars and American women both started really going down hill in quality at right about the same time (the mid 1970s), and that the detrioratiln accelerated through the 80s, to the ñoint that we’re now overpaying for a shitty, shoddy product, in both automobiles AND women?
“Ok show of hands. How many dudes went to Oscars link to see chicks with arched backs?”
I didn’t bother because, knowing clickbait, I assumed there wouldn’t be any at all.
but your question compelled me to go check, only to prove that once again I was dead on accurate in my assumption.
For one…don’t marry those women after the chads have emotionally traumatized them.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
I’d never wear heels to virtue signal…I’m not that dumb to realize putting your feet in that position is painful and it’ll do nothing to make me look more attractive to the opposite sex.
feeriker: American cars … started really going down hill in quality at right about the same time (the mid 1970s), and that the detrioratiln accelerated through the 80s, to the ñoint that we’re now overpaying for a shitty, shoddy product
Oh, I think cars have improved tremendously. They’re much safer today than in the 1970s. Airbags, seat belts, computerized breaking, steering, and transmission systems. Car bodies are safer. Passengers protected within cages. Engines less likely to crush passengers in a crash. Breakaway steering columns no longer pierce passengers like a stake through the heart.
My car was totaled on the freeway when the Range Rover ahead of me came to a sudden stop. Airbags deployed. Seat belt on. My car was totaled, but I walked away with just a bruise on an arm.
GPS also makes for safer driving. In the 1990s used a Thomas Brothers Guide. Try studying that while driving through Los Angeles. And I still got lost at times.
Cars are more aerodynamic, saving on fuel. Oil no longer needs to be changed constantly. Engines run cleaner.
Cars have a lost a lot of personality. But seems to me, they’re much better engineered.
What’s funny is infinity, Lexus, and other high end brands show dominant, attractive alpha males driving with a sexy, feminine woman in the passenger seat. Interesting that being manly is really sold only to middle and lower class America.
In the 1990s used a Thomas Brothers Guide. Try studying that while driving through Los Angeles. And I still got lost at times.
The Thomas Brothers guides were classics though — collectibles now, mostly, I think, at least the older ones are.
Sorry gents, but paying well over 50K now for a brand new truck…….isn’t working class, or manly. It’s stupid.
Know a guy who bought a brand new Cheverolet Silverado…..transmission has gone three times in it in the past year. Sure warranty and the like covers it, but really???? Three times? It chimes, it has more features for connectivity than actually being a truck……..my dad bought a brand new 1987 Dodge 3/4 ton for $17,500. He changed the oil, and it got just as good gas mileage than any current truck on the market today. Got a flat once. Had to replace a gasket after 150K on it.
And………most guys who buy these newer trucks with their wife’s / live girlfriends permission: Don’t live or work on a farm. Don’t live way out in the country. Wouldn’t dare get mud on their truck, don’t use it for their livelihood. It’s just to show what a “big boy” they are! It’s “Look, I left the playpen, and I’m gonna play with the big-kids now!”
Trucks today don’t last half as long as they did and that’s a LOT OF MONEY for today’s “working class” guy. He should buy a used truck, get out of debt and save. That’s a working class attitude. Not buying a new Ford truck for “safety reasons” that probably costs over 50K
Cars are more “disposebale” today. Safer? Sure..but most seatbelt laws in the USA were implemented between 1985-1990. So of course deaths were gonna drop when this was made law.
Cars had seatbelts going back to the 1960’s. Nobody used them. As a boy in the 1970’s, we never used seatbelts! I suppose we were lucky!
More fuel efficient? Debatable. My first car, a 1982 Plymouth Reliant (my parents bought a new one in 1987, and give me the 1982 one) got about 40 mpg…….it was a dog on hills, but handled excellent in the snow / ice. In the late 1980’s, I could fill my tank, buy a pack of cigarettes (smoking age was 16 back then in NYS) and get some change with a ten dollar bill. A K-Car brand new was under $5,000. A bought a brand new Plymouth Neon when I moved to California in 1994, and that was only 10K and it got 37mpg. Todays cars are not much better than that.
All computer and no working parts. Pop a hood on a newer car, no room to even slide you hand between the firewall and engine.
Better engineered? Maybe….but not as durable in the end. Disposable, like our culture and times we live in.
seventiesjason
I find it funny that on every TV show and movie…..a woman picks up a gun and knows instinctively how to use it and “kicks ass”
Alien was the first really obvious example of that. It was a big surprise at the time for the ship captain to get chomped first, a reversal of the standard SF/horror movie script of the 50’s and 60’s. The counterexample from about the same time? Terminator, where the heroine learns over the course of the story to do about two things, one involving a very large machine. She wasn’t all kickass Lara Croft in that movie.
Aliens just cemented the “kick ass woman” it in place, although even there a big machine was required to defeat the largest monster.
The “picks up weapon and kickass BOOM!’ keeps getting more obvious every year, the last $tar War$ episode is a prime example. I guess girls are just born fighters…
Bias against skin color? They call that racism.
Bias against women? They call that sexism.
But bias against men… that’s called humor.
SeventiesJason,
Remember that gas prices have been extremely inflated since then. My mom could buy my sister and I a full “meal” at McDonalds a long time ago, but not now. That is due to inflation eating away the value of money rather than some horrid increase in the true price of things.
I do remember filling a 2 gallon tank for our mower at a local station for 50 cents when I was growing up. I read that gas prices in the early 2000s were the same as the time I recall, because inflation has really eaten things up.
The key question in your case would be how many MPG you got, not how much cash it took at the time.
@Billy
gas prices fell across the country….actually sank (tanked?) in the later 1980’s…depending on the “gas taxes” by you state it could really have sunk.
I remember in the summer of 1988 (I was 18) the standard unleaded at Mobil was 75 cents a gallon! It was slowly starting to creep up again in 1989 but when Kuwait was invaded in the summer of 1990 (thus operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm) prices blew up back to 1.50 a gallon. I don’t remember since 1990 when gas prices dropped below a dollar.
Since 1974 real wages and the “value” of what the dollar can and will buy is dropping. I have argued that the USA “never” recovered from that first “oil shock” from the 1970’s
My grandfather retired from Ford after thirty years as a senior welder on their assembly lines. He drives a Chevrolet.
Since 1974 real wages and the “value” of what the dollar can and will buy is dropping. I have argued that the USA “never” recovered from that first “oil shock” from the 1970’s
The U.S. Dollar has lost 95 percent of its value in the 104 years since the Federal Reserve virus first appeared and has metastasized. It now requires one dollar to purchase what five cents would have purchased in 1913. The complete severance of U.S. currency from any base of intrinsic value is responsible for this and the resulting inevitable inflation (Tricky Dick Nixon’s act of August 15, 1971 was what kicked off the beginning of the end).
My 10 year old Dodge has 292,000 miles. Never let a female drive it.
Most 40 mpg cars today have no problems with hills. Most early 80’s cars were dogs, even the ones with large engines and poor fuel economy. My in-laws back then had an Olds Cutlass, which my wife not so affectionately called “The Gutless”. That sucker would vapor lock anytime it saw a hill.
I remember back then that by the time a car reached reached 100K miles, it was ready for the junkyard. I had a late 70’s V8 Firebird once. A real piece of junk and any four banger today would beat it in a quarter mile drag.
It’s those useless bells and whistles that sell cars today. Most guys can’t tell you the engine stats for their car, or how many gears the slushbox has, but hey! it has hot spot capability.
I especially find Star Trek: The Next Generation to be so PC that watching reruns is painful. Voyager is bad too. The only one I can stomach is Enterprise. I haven’t even bothered to watch Discovery, especially since you have to PAY to watch it on CBS’s new streaming channel, plus from the previews it looks even more painfully PC than Next Gen.
Humor and self improvement
https://vimeo.com/elitemensguide
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This is what you get when you spend $80,000 on a pickup.
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