Advocacy & Safety - Drive = Love

Gag me with a spoon, will ya?

For those of you who don't know what, "Drive = Love" is about(outside the U.S.,) it is the new catch phrase for Chrysler Corp.

Oops! 'Scuse me, gotta blow chunks...

I have a better one. How about, "Drive = Stink," or,
"Drive = Perpetual Cash Drain," or, "Drive = Massive Headache."

How'm I doin'?

There was a time when entrepreneurs were proud to rely on providing something better than the competition. Sort of like economic Darwinism, I guess. The best survived and prospered.

But the reality is, we are subjected to pleas to our patriotism and
emotions in order that someone can sell their product, regardless of whether we need to buy it.

What ever happened to Henry Ford and his "affordable Model T?"
I guess once they've got you by the throat, they don't need to pretend to save you a lot of money. Hey, you have to drive anyway, right?

How about, "Smoking = Love?"

"Drive = Love" sounds oddly Orwellian. Kind of like the "Ministry of Love" in 1984 where you get tortured by hungry rats.

When I read this tread's topic, I had a completely different definition of drive in mind...like this(from dictionary.com):

A strong motivating tendency or instinct related to self-preservation, reproduction, or aggression that prompts activity toward a particular end.

Of course I, too, blew chunks when Pete revealed it was actually about driving a car!

Originally posted by kittyfury
"Drive = Love" sounds oddly Orwellian. Kind of like the "Ministry of Love" in 1984 where you get tortured by hungry rats.
It certainly does, and the phrase was new to me, with my insular avoidance of all things popular, including advertising. Thanks to the observant and pop-culture-immersed Pete Clark for bringing this noxious bit of propaganda to my attention!

Isn't finding yourself in rush-hour standstills (which means, of course, you're not on your bike ;) ) reminiscent of being tortured by rats?...

How about "Drive=destroy the environment"?

No, not catchy enough...:rolleyes:

Fortunately, I have not noticed this slogan. I should write to Chrysler's marketing department and point out that bicycling is love: love of physical, emotional, and economic health, love of the planet, love of energy efficiency, love of social interaction, love of history and craftsmanship, love of self-reliance, love of sports, etc.

A comparably-bad slogan, from one of the oil companies, I believe, was, "It's not just your car; it's your freedom." During the commuting hours or when paying for insurance, fuel, repairs, or (gulp) a new car, I fail to see the logic of this.

Drive = wank.

It's not just your car, it's your master.

Originally posted by velocipedio
Drive = wank.

:roflmao:

This is a classic reality gap between ad-land and the real world.
How many drivers really look forward to their morning commute ?
Do they love it? Only when they are told to.

Originally posted by MichaelW
This is a classic reality gap between ad-land and the real world.
How many drivers really look forward to their morning commute ?
Do they love it? Only when they are told to.
I read that many drivers in California (I think probably near Los Angeles?) now spend two hours a day or more driving to and from work, but that it's projected they will soon be spending TWICE that. Can you imagine ANYTHING that justifies spending one-quarter (or more) of your waking hours breathing carbon monoxide cooped up in a car that's moving very slowly with nothing even to see except other cars? What madness!

Originally posted by JonR

I read that many drivers in California (I think probably near Los Angeles?) now spend two hours a day or more driving to and from work, ... !

Silicon Valley is even worse than anywhere in Los Angeles or San Diego. The problem is fueled by a combination of cheap gasoline, high housing prices, tight concentration of employment centers, and multi-career families. My next-door neighbors "accordion commute" 30mi/50km south and 60mi/100km north to their respective jobs as college professors. Others, wanting some elbow room and decent-sized housing, commute into downtown San Diego from Temecula or Tijuana.

The only promising solutions I see are telecommuting and commuter-oriented, perhaps private or quasi-public, mass transit. Except for a Pete Penseyres or a Lance Armstrong, an 80-mile/130-km round trip bicycle commute is not practical, although at least three of my friends have successfully mixed driving and cycling for moderate distances -- drive to work, leave the car at work and bike home, bike to work the next day, drive home, etc.

Originally posted by John E
My next-door neighbors "accordion commute" 30mi/50km south and 60mi/100km north to their respective jobs as college professors.

Except for a Pete Penseyres or a Lance Armstrong, an 80-mile/130-km round trip bicycle commute is not practical.
I am sure that the futuristic freeway models unveiled at the 1939 World's Fair didn't show this scenario. Is this the bright, glistening future promised us along with, "a car in every garage?"

If the future were actually seen in those days by folks that could still walk to the corner store, they would have said, "NO THANKS!"

:crash:

Eh, it's all about selling an image. I don't think people buy cars on their technical merits very often anymore (can most car buyers even begin to explain the basics of the interenal combustion engine?), so they have to be sold on something else.

Maybe the bicycle industry just need some good PR.

andy

Originally posted by aturley
Maybe the bicycle industry just need some good PR.

If we can only get the public past their fear of bicycle transportation.

I think it stems from their fear of driving. But cycling with traffic is never as bad as driving, once you learn how. It gets easier and more fun every time you do it.

Originally posted by LittleBigMan

If we can only get the public past their fear of bicycle transportation.

I think it stems from their fear of driving. But cycling with traffic is never as bad as driving, once you learn how. It gets easier and more fun every time you do it.
I'm not sure I understand this post, Pete--er, I mean LBM.

Whose fear of driving? Lots of cyclists have fear of drivers, maybe that's the point. But the "public" seems to be in LOVE with driving....

But I agree all the way with "... cycling with traffic is never as bad as driving, once you learn how." If nothing else, it's better than driving because if you're on a bicycle you can always hop off whenever you want to. Try that with a car! :p

If people think that 80 mile commutes are normal, then we really are in trouble. What can you do when a settlement is built on the premise of cheap, go-anywhere transportation over 80 miles. People think that we want to convert their 40 mile drive into a 40mile ride, thats obviously stupid, so must we be.
What we really need to do is reduce their 40mile journey to a 5-10 mile journey. If you give space to people rather than cars, you can fit 1mil people into a surprisingly small space, without resorting to rabbit hutches. You can do it with peace, quiet, safety and fresh air, neighbours, shops where they recognise your face rather than your store-card ID number. We all know that, but how do communicate that vision.

Originally posted by MichaelW
What we really need to do is reduce their 40mile journey to a 5-10 mile journey. If you give space to people rather than cars, you can fit 1mil people into a surprisingly small space, without resorting to rabbit hutches. You can do it with peace, quiet, safety and fresh air, neighbours, shops where they recognise your face rather than your store-card ID number. We all know that, but how do communicate that vision.
I think you just did.

Some people in the U.S. are moving back into urban areas and rebuilding the small-town communities once abandoned by upwardly-mobile types.

Originally posted by LittleBigMan
Some people in the U.S. are moving back into urban areas and rebuilding the small-town communities once abandoned by upwardly-mobile types.
For Pete's sake, LBM, send some of 'em to Kansas City, "empty loft" capital of the universe!

MichaelW said,

"We all know that, but how do communicate that vision"

The internet can help. Here are two of my favorite websites regarding this topic.


http://www.living-room.org/ is jam packed with all sorts of info about urban ecology, bicycle commuting, sustainability, how to build livable pro-people cities and how to save existing cities, etc.

Another good one is http://www.newcolonist.com/ , to quote their banner, "...a web magazine about city living".

I'm not going to pretend I know a lot about Amercian cities, but here in Vancouver Canada it's another matter.

University of British Columbia, which I attend, is about 40 km from my house. One hour drive to and one hour back. Two hours in the car everyday. I don't actually drive, my brother does, so I get sleep instead. :)

I could have moved to residence, but that would have put a lot of other stresses on me. For example, I wouldn't be able to see my family for five days a week, and I had to put up with anything but healthy junk food they give us. Not to mention that expensive residence rate. And oh yeah, the weather here just plain stinks for biking 300 out of 365 days of the year. You can put up with only so much biking in the snow.

So before generalizing all drivers, know that not everyone has the same living conditions as you.

It's just not right to be so idealistic about everything.