Just saw some TV commercial for some car loan service, marketed towards lower-income people with bad credit. First it showed a kid in a beat-up hood ride trying to pick up a girl, failed. Then it showed a woman riding shakily on a bike saying "You think I like riding this bike to work? I can't get a car loan with my credit!"

So there you go, riding/commuting on bikes must really suck if you have bad credit and can't get a car loan.

Sometimes I feel like some people look at me like a loser that cant afford a car,but alot of those same people are driving beaters that cost less than my bike

I get that more when I'm walking, though I'm sure it will be happening again when I'm riding soon enough. I mostly just laugh at 'em when they comment. I can get my 350-lb, asthmatic, arthritic kneed, pack a day smoking ass up and moving with just human power, and I do it. What's their excuse for the little handicap power scooter... oh right, that's a Civic.

Most businesses are not evil. These places are.

Sure, they'll tell you that they're providing a "service" for people who've had bad luck or made some poor choices. If they really wanted to help these people they would:

Tell them ride a bike, walk or whatever until they've saved enough money to pay cash for some beater. Cut up the credit cards. Debit cards are OK. Cash is better. Tell them not to throw money away on paying interest.

Instead what they do is gouge the people with high interest rates who can least afford it.

Ehh, wouldn't be the first time car-related companies played on that stereotype. And it won't be the last.

+1 qft.

The stereotype questions I have gotten from co-workers and just people who find out I ride 14 miles to commute are pretty funny.

Do you have a car? (yes)
Do you have a drivers license? (yes)
Did you get busted for DUI? (no)
Can you afford auto insurance? (yes)
Then why do your ride a bike to work**********

The list goes on.

My answer... because I can.

"So I don't end up looking like you."

Just another reason to kill your TV.

The police here in Bangkok have the same mentality. People who ride bicycles in Bangkok are those who are either too poor to afford a motorcycle or car, or suffer from some mental ineptitude. Such people could never make enough money to make it worth while stopping them for a bribe. So the police leave me alone.

Driving and owning a car seem to be a right of passage, not only in age but economical statues.

This is a fundamental problem!

These companies are usually small operations with a limited budget to hire a good marketing firm. The commercial you are describing sounds like a locally-produced spot that the TV station's in-house ad writer put together using very little imagination. Unfortunately, sometimes major corporations stoop to the same low in their advertising.

I wouldn't worry about it. Nobody watches commercials anymore, anyway.

Agree, the bigger the better, a big truck is the best.

I smell a t-shirt here.

Mentioned this one before but it is priceless.

The smokers where I work are banished to an outside area for their breaks....which happens to be right next to the bike rack.
As I was mounting up and about to leave for home several co-workers were there puffing away and one especially sickly looking guy about half my age started ribbing me and said something about me being crazy riding home in the rain after dark and how I could get myself killed.
I looked at his cigarette, his face, his cigarette, his face....and just rode off. His expression was worth a million bucks.

Love it!
Do the smokers ever sit on your bike? I parked my bike outside work once where the smokers break at and caught one siting on my rack when I was ready to leave.

What's your debt on that bike and how many hours of your weekly go towards that payment? If you can say no to both, you really have no reason to feel bad.

I pity the people who are constantly stressed by how hard they have to work to afford the car that makes them feel their better than everyone else*, not the person riding a bike to live within their means.




*These people are easy to spot on a bike, they're usually the person doing all the honking and shouting at you as they drive past.

I've had the same type of experience at a couple of companies. My current GM thinks I'm "dedicated" for riding my bike instead of driving or taking the bus. I can leave my bike in the building during the time I'm at work if I want to do so. The neighborhood sucks, but the parking lot is right outside my window. So, I'm not that concerned with theft, but I appreciate the sentiment.


I hate driving and Rhode Island is the worst...Every trip down 95 feels like I'm in the Indy 500. Most people around here think the painted lines on the roads are their for decorative purposes only.

Better yet, a "Commuting FAQ" jersey.

Those companies that prey on people with bad credit are the lowest of the low. I don't have a TV, so I won't see that commercial, but I see ads in other places (even on bus-stop benches!) advertising similar companies. Disgusting, really; gives free enterprise and capitalism a bad name.

Great T-Shirt idea too Ira B and CommuterComando! I don't wear jerseys when I commute (sorry ThermionicScott) but T-Shirts, sure, all the time. Most of my T-Shirts were free with bike event registration, so they do get the cycling message across, but yours would be much more direct!

Rick / OCRR

lol oops someone else posted about a similar commercial a few months back: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/809832.html

This is the exact commercial, though I think the company name was different than Car Loan Pal, and I'm not sure why it shows a 555 number.

It seems where I live currently (South Tacoma), even those who can't afford cars drive anyways. It is, after all, a "necessity".

On a similar note, Toyota has a bunch of ads promoting their "highlander". We're supposed to buy this car so our children won't get mocked by the other kiddies for having a "lame" car.

If we're gonna do that, I guess we're all obligated to hit up the army surplus and supply our households with M1A1 Abrams MBTs.