Well, the holiday season is here. And with that comes lots of car commercials where one spouse surprises the other with a brand new luxury car, with a big red bow on top. And guess what? I HATE THOSE COMMERCIALS!
I suppose part of this is from my personal finance views. Would you really surprise someone with a car? I mean, that would be quite the surprise. But that would also surprise me when I looked at my bank account and discovered $50k+ missing, or saw a new car loan in the mail. It tends to be the more expensive, luxury cars or sports cars, too. You wouldn’t surprise the love of your life with a Honda Fit, would you? A large expense like that is something you plan, discuss, and make sure you can afford.
I started writing this post a while back, but I’m currently watching the Patriots/Jets game, and it seems like every other ad is a car ad, with most of them being the Lexus ads, all complete with red bows. I’ll admit, the idea for the ads (that they need more giftwrap, or a bigger chimney, stocking, or tree) is a little cute. But still…I don’t like the whole message: give your love a ridiculously expensive car.
My boyfriend knows I hate these commercials. I got a text from him the other day: ”Saw an ad for a car with a giant bow on top while I was watching the morning news. Made me think of your infinite rage.”
I guess I just think cars are a weird and expensive thing to surprise someone with. How easy is it to return it? Exchange it for a different color or size? I’d rather get a nice sweater.
I do have a few exceptions to my hated car commercial list:
From a few years ago, a Mastercard commercial promoting a giveaway they were hosting. The commercial is mocking the traditional Christmas Car Commercials:
I also really like Pomplamoose’s music/videos, and so, even though it seems like they sold out a bit, I like their Hyundai ads:
How do you feel about these ads? What Christmas (or general holiday ads) do you hate? One from last year that I both hate and love is the one that lumps all the December holidays together…
Do you have better ideas for surprising your loved ones this holiday season?
Thanks for sharing the Mastercard video–funny stuff.
Yeah, I hate those car commercials, too. Because if anyone in a family bought a car, it would supposedly be an agreement. You wouldn’t just go out and buy something like a car without discussing it first … or if you did, it would imply that one member of the family has a complete monopoly on the finances which is also not ok in my book. That’s either someone way to controlling or someone else way too lazy!
Amen to that. I do know someone who bought sports car (not a cheap one) for their spouse’s birthday, and I remember thinking “Isn’t there a better place that money could be going in these times?” Perhaps working to increase the value of their home instead of investing in a fancy car that drops in value the second you drive it off the lot.
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Starting to see these again already and thought of you… It’s not even Thanksgiving yet!