3 ms·

For us uninitiated, what is this "social language of cars" you're referring to?

by Arcten 10y ago

clock_tower 10y ago
US culture's assumptions about what message a car sends -- things like how cowboys drive F-150s, rich old people drive Cadillacs, eco-snobs and neocons drive Priuses, Old Money drives BMWs (preferably 1970s BMWs that haven't been washed since the Clinton Administration), and so on. None of these messages are self-evident; it's possible for someone outside the US culture, or who just doesn't watch much television, to accidentally buy a car that sends a message he/she didn't mean to send. Thus my disclaimers about Mercedeses -- there are doubtless good people who bought a Mercedes and didn't realize what message they were sending.
- Consultant32452 10y ago
  This is really interesting. Another one I'm familiar with is that Subaru is predominately for lesbians. I'm curious about the neocon Prius one. I'd never heard that before. What would be the driving force to get a neocon in a Prius? I would think they'd be in the gas guzzling trucks along with the cowboys.
  - clock_tower 10y ago
    What gets a neocon in a Prius? Fuel efficiency. Less oil burned means less dependence on the Saudis and more freedom of action in the Middle East. These days, we export oil rather than import it, so perhaps this isn't true anymore, but I remember of hearing about how one of the key Iraq hawks (Wolfowitz?) driving a Prius very early in the Prius' history -- 2006 or 2007, I think. I'd never heard of the Subaru's reputation, but that's exactly the kind of thing I'm thinking of... and exactly the kind of thing that I don't know how to learn! Perhaps a wiki of some sort could record people's knowledge of what sorts of people drive what sorts of cars. We'd just have to make sure that Something Awful never gets wind of it, lest we "learn" that everyone in the world drives Carry McCarface... :)

3 ms·

For us uninitiated, what is this "social language of cars" you're referring to?

by Arcten 10y ago

For us uninitiated, what is this "social language of cars" you're referring to?

clock_tower 10y ago
US culture's assumptions about what message a car sends -- things like how cowboys drive F-150s, rich old people drive Cadillacs, eco-snobs and neocons drive Priuses, Old Money drives BMWs (preferably 1970s BMWs that haven't been washed since the Clinton Administration), and so on. None of these messages are self-evident; it's possible for someone outside the US culture, or who just doesn't watch much television, to accidentally buy a car that sends a message he/she didn't mean to send. Thus my disclaimers about Mercedeses -- there are doubtless good people who bought a Mercedes and didn't realize what message they were sending.
- Consultant32452 10y ago
  This is really interesting. Another one I'm familiar with is that Subaru is predominately for lesbians. I'm curious about the neocon Prius one. I'd never heard that before. What would be the driving force to get a neocon in a Prius? I would think they'd be in the gas guzzling trucks along with the cowboys.
  - clock_tower 10y ago
    What gets a neocon in a Prius? Fuel efficiency. Less oil burned means less dependence on the Saudis and more freedom of action in the Middle East. These days, we export oil rather than import it, so perhaps this isn't true anymore, but I remember of hearing about how one of the key Iraq hawks (Wolfowitz?) driving a Prius very early in the Prius' history -- 2006 or 2007, I think. I'd never heard of the Subaru's reputation, but that's exactly the kind of thing I'm thinking of... and exactly the kind of thing that I don't know how to learn! Perhaps a wiki of some sort could record people's knowledge of what sorts of people drive what sorts of cars. We'd just have to make sure that Something Awful never gets wind of it, lest we "learn" that everyone in the world drives Carry McCarface... :)