Image via WikipediaI have commented a number of times about the "Slug-Dub" commercials and the ire they trigger in some people. Some people just spit out their strained peas when they saw people hitting others while a Routan drove by and the theme from "The Andy Griffith Show" played. 
Image via WikipediaThe response of some is as if Volkswagen is a vestige of the Third Reich attempting the Fourth Reich by instilling the spirit of fascism in America. For the record, it was Mussolini and the Italians who were Fascists--never mind VW, watch out that Fiat doesn't corrupt America through Chrysler! The Third Reich was the invention of the National Socialists under Hitler. I never meant to bring politics into this, but if you listen to the Tea Party, Obama is trying to nationalize socialism here. How ironic, since the Nazis looked down on those of African descent as much as Little Rock and Montgomery did in the 1950s.For those who are counting, I apologize that I can't work in Stalin, the Yugo and Bosnia, the Hutus and Tutsis, or General Tojo who supported Mitsubishi and the parent companies of Mazda, Suzuki, and Subaru. I can only offend so many people or car companies at a time.
The real reason for this blog entry is the reaction generated by this Volkswagen Jetta commercial:
Jason S. Harry, professional truck driver/blogger posted When Special Interest "Shoot the Gap" . The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has posted a comment on their Facebook page taking umbrage to this commercial and allowing others to vent their spleen. Jason takes a very reasoned view of the VW vs Safety vs Professional Drivers vs OOIDA issue, and comes to the conclusion that the majority of viewers would not assume that VW was instructing people to drive dangerously. Unfortunately, the majority of commenters seem to want to send a blitzkrieg against Wolfsburg (ironic because blitzkrieg was a German-named tactic and the advertizing agency is based in New York and Los Angeles) for having the audacity to show something that 1% of all drivers have never thought of doing and how the vilified professional driver will get the blame.
Jason makes some very good comments about the responses OOIDA receives. I'm sure he's indicating that the majority of professional drivers are not as knee-jerk as the commenters, just as the majority of Jetta (or any other 4-wheeler) drivers are not so brain dead as to pull a stunt to deliberately put 3 vehicles and their occupants in peril.
It occurs to me that the highways would be a safer place if we could put all the knee-jerkers and brain dead 4-wheelers in one room (the Superdome would be adequate, I think) so that they could act out their own nationally socialistic fascism upon the each other. The winner gets to clean up the mess.
