General Cycling Discussion - Bicycles as automobile accessories

I have been noticing bicycles being use more frequently lately as accessories in automobile advertising. The attached pic comes from a recent ad in Bicycle magazine, of course.

However, I have been noticing these kinds of ads all over the world in non-bicycle related magazines - and even in automotive display windows.

To me, this reflects a growing popular image that bicycling is sexy and cool. Automobile makers, naturally, want to associate their products with the cool and sexy.

Have bicycles taken the place of beautiful female models in automotive advertising? Frankly, I would like to see BOTH bicycles AND beautiful models in automobile advertising - or even breakfast cereal advertising.

At the 2000 and 2001 auto shows, the Mercedes Benz display prominently featured two of their mountain bikes ("The bike that's a Mercedes.") I was disappointed that the bikes were absent from their 2002 booth.

My all-time favourite television advertisement by any carmaker was one of Saab's in the late 1980s. As the announcer suggests that "people who care about the environment carefully choose the cars they drive," the garage door opens, revealing a Saab (of course). However, instead of driving off in his shiny new Saab, the homeowner rides out of the garage on his bicycle, to begin a car-free errand.

I was poking around the Saturn (automobile) site yesterday and was surprised to find that the Vue, Saturn's new small SUV, can be ordered with several different types of bike racks, including a rack that fits inside the vehicle. This type of rack is recommended on the web site for those "who consider their bikes part of the family".

I don't know whether other manufacturers offer bike racks as accessories, but Saturn is certainly trying to excite the salivary glands of serious cyclists.

Originally posted by dougc
I was poking around the Saturn (automobile) site yesterday and was surprised to find that the Vue, Saturn's new small SUV, can be ordered with several different types of bike racks, including a rack that fits inside the vehicle. This type of rack is recommended on the web site for those "who consider their bikes part of the family".

I don't know whether other manufacturers offer bike racks as accessories, but Saturn is certainly trying to excite the salivary glands of serious cyclists.

"This type of rack is recommended on the web site for those 'who consider their bikes part of the family'."

That is really neat! Hey, that's my family they are talking about!

Originally posted by John E
My all-time favourite television advertisement by any carmaker was one of Saab's in the late 1980s. As the announcer suggests that "people who care about the environment carefully choose the cars they drive," the garage door opens, revealing a Saab (of course). However, instead of driving off in his shiny new Saab, the homeowner rides out of the garage on his bicycle, to begin a car-free errand.

God bless the Europeans for having the spirit and courage to spend money on this kind of commercial.

I appreciate European commercials for their often relaxed approach to advertising as opposed to the "tomohak to the middle of the forehead" type advertising so typical in the USA.

You know, sometimes TV commercial and magazine ads in europe have nudes in them. Ya! like in the shower selling soap and stuff. Sometimes I will watch hours of Euro television in languages I don't understand - just in hopes of one of them there nudie commercials.

What I would like to see is an ad with BOTH nudes AND bicycles: maybe promoting soap or milk. That would be cool.

We had a great series of adds for Danish bacon, set in a Danish nudist colony. It was beautifully choreographed to protect our british sensibilities.
Bikes in adds are a perplexing subject. People attatch all kind of values to them. Personally I just ride them.

The VW owners' magazine periodically features several bike racks, including a leveraged boom which makes it easy to raise a bike up to roof height. My personal "advertisement" for bicycling is to drive the Passat wagon to the dealership's service department, pull out the Bianchi or the Schwinn, and say, "No thanks, I don't need a courtesy shuttle ride anywhere."