Thursday, June 16, 2016
What Nissan thinks of pedestrians
Ugh, all this smug jackass wants to do is get around town while exercising his god-given right to drive 50 MPH in 25 MPH zones, and what happens? Idiot criminal pedestrians keep "popping up," forcing him to actually pay attention (sort of) to his surroundings because Nissan hasn't invented Automatic Swerve To Hit Something Else technology. Stupid pedestrians!
(Oh, and Stupid Bicyclist! Where the hell do you get off being on MY road with your stupid non-polluting vehicle?)
(I like the way Nissan equates pedestrians as random, one-dimensional cardboard objects and not human beings- wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of anyone out there who might sometimes be troubled at the idea of speeding through city streets with all us stupid walkers about- hey, relax drivers! This isn't about hurting anyone- it's about avoiding injury to your shiny car!)
I also like the way the first cardboard cutout is of a pedestrian looking at her cell phone- the message her is obviously "you need this technology because walkers are dangerous morons who aren't paying attention and will walk right in front of your Superior Mode of Transportation if they think they can get away with it." Full disclosure: I'm a walker, and I see plenty of distracted walking like this. But you know what? No walker is ever going to kill anyone by bumping into them while staring at their phones. Distracted drivers (and speeders, like the a-hole in this commercial obviously is) kill people ALL THE FREAKING TIME. So don't even get me started here, Nissan.
Meanwhile, the guy in this ad only brakes at the end, when a truly horrific accident which no doubt resulted in multiple deaths and injuries pops up in front of his car. He responds with a self-satisfied "its no big deal because it isn't me" sigh, a smug smile, and a "we're better than those dead people" glance at his companion. In keeping with the entire theme of the ad- the world around you and your car is a real pain in the butt, constantly threatening its paint job and your Very Important Schedule. As a pedestrian and a human being, I can only respond F--- you, Nissan!
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Ever notice, in general, how insensitive and calloused so many people are to others, yet demand those others to be sensitive and empathetic to THEIR feelings and needs?
ReplyDeletethe people in these ads- and in real life, in general-- are waaaaaayyy too concerned with satisfying their own feelings and "needs" to worry about anyone else's-- as this commercial strongly implies, all those other people are just obstacles. Which is why we need to have WiFi in cars and listen to loud, incredibly personal conversations which used to be saved for living rooms while standing in line in grocery stores.
DeleteHere's the other thing so annoying about this ad. If you have spent even 2 seconds of your life driving, you know that in areas where there are likely to be a higher number of pedestrians, you need to be proactive about being ready to react if one of them steps off the curb into the street (especially children), or if you are approaching and see one already in the street. Yet the two-dimensional fake "pedestrians" in this ad aren't visible to the driver at all until they magically "pop up" from the spot on the road where they have been lying flat.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't happen in real life, people! Human beings don't suddenly spring up in the middle of the road! It may SEEM as if they do--if you're an inattentive, lazy-ass driver--but they don't! They either step off a curb into the street in front of you (and you can see them before they do, and think "Better be careful, just in case") or you can see them in the street from a ways away. Of course, that doesn't do you much good if you are driving at an unreasonable speed in an area where people do things like this. You're probably not going to see them in time, so I guess drivers like that need the nimble, quick-braking Nissan.
Now. It is true that sometimes pedestrians can be found crossing the street in unexpected places, such as multilane highways, and this makes things quite scary for drivers. But if you think it's scary for drivers, consider how scary it is for those pedestrians. They're not out there just to freak drivers. They're there because America is a country built for cars, and they happen to not have one or they are unable to drive, yet they still have wants and needs like the rest of us. But when they go out to fulfill those wants and needs, they have to take their lives in their hands walking in places not meant for people to walk. Rather than getting angry about it, drivers should be sad.
We should have more cities where you don't have to have a car to get around--where you can walk and bike and take public transportation and still have a life. Too bad we don't. We have made the driver king, and the pedestrians are just nuisance obstacles interfering with them getting where they're going to.
"I was just cruising around checking out Facebook and syncing my iPhone with the stereo while driving 40 MPH in a 25 MPH zone when this stupid pedestrian popped up out of NOWHERE! It was a totally unavoidable tragedy!"
DeleteThere are zillions of apes out there who don't see pedestrians like me as people with hopes and dreams and someone to watch out for. All they see is an obstacle to brainlessly zooming along not having to think about anything.
ReplyDelete