Comments on: Parallel Parking for Sociopaths

By: mork

mork — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:48:25 +0000

C’mon, it’s just a goofy ad. There’s no public policy significance here.

Maybe. But it does highlight the cultural milieu we’re in, in which driving maniacally dangerously is not seen as having any consequence.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:20:59 +0000

C’mon, it’s just a goofy ad. There’s no public policy significance here.

Plus that stunt dates at least as far back as “The Blues Brothers” (1980) — that’s how Jake and Elwood get a spot in front of the chic restaurant where Mr. Fabulous is Maitre d’.

By: Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:22:33 +0000

It’s not the most egregious ad but it’s a nice warm up. With football season and the baseball pennant stretch upon us, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of Ad Nauseam material hitting the airwaves.

By: yeehaa

yeehaa — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:16:36 +0000

This is a commercial on how to shorten your tires life. From 30k to 5k miles.

By: digamma

digamma — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:38:06 +0000

Yeah, I have a hard time getting upset about this.

By: Brooklyn

Brooklyn — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:28:22 +0000

This thread threatens to turn schoolmarmish. This is like tsk-tsking a cyclist who dares to ride no-handed.

A driver with this level of skill is not going to run down a pedestrian because they’re juggling a cell phone, or fail to steer because they just got their nails done, or reaching back because their brat is screaming from the child seat.

Remember, it’s the perpetually stupid and incompetent that we should worry about.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:46:22 +0000

Notwithstanding the horrible message, the reformed motorhead in me can't help but enjoy the stunt. The king of these kind of parking maneuvers is a guy named Russ Swift. He can drop a car into a space just 33cm longer than the car itself.

By: Clarence

Clarence — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:44:03 +0000

Even more ironic…

After the “Turbo Park” the driver exiting the vehicle would have been killed himself while crossing the street in that manner by a vehicle doing exactaly what he did just seconds earlier.

Also a little ridiculous: why the urgency to park? After doing so he exits the vehicle so slowly and peacefully. It seems a little strange even if you are not a bike/ped advocate..

By: Ian D

Ian D — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:21:06 +0000

It’s also interesting that the “Don’t even think about it” is written quite large, but I didn’t even see it the first 2 times I watched because it is shown as the “action” is taking place and you’re most distracted, and it is blended into the scene background.

I can’t argue – it is very obvious but only when you look for it.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:19:57 +0000

They made an entire (and entirely awful) movie out of this crap. . . “The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift”.

I watched about 5 minutes of it in a Reading, PA hotel room, mouth agape.

A commercial, not so bad. A feature length movie marketed to teen and tween boys is a far worse atrocity.