Famed 'Be Like Mike' Gatorade ad debuted 25 years ago
Aug. 8, 1991.
Twenty-five years ago, one of the most famous
commercials of all time debuted: Gatorade's "Be Like Mike." Fans of a
certain age are probably already hearing the jingle in their head. While
the commercial is famous, the story of how the spot came to be isn't
told as much. But it's just as good as the commercial itself.
Executives
at Gatorade, then owned by Chicago-based Quaker Oats, were
head-over-heels for good reason -- they'd just stolen their hometown
star from Coca-Cola, fresh off his first championship. Quaker paid a
hefty price to land Michael Jordan -- a 10-year, $13.5 million deal and
the promise that he would be the beverage's only endorser.
(ESPN.com)
Monday, August 8, 2016
Preach On!
Cars Won't Be Fully Safe Until All Drivers Understand Them
In case you’ve forgotten, starting in the late 2000s Toyota was deluged with reports of “runaway” vehicles. This led to lawsuits, federal investigations, recalls, frenzied and outright fraudulent news stories, and a black eye it took the automaker years to recover from.
Ultimately, the cause of these unintended acceleration incidents was
deemed to be “pedal misapplication”—drivers hitting the gas instead of
the brake—or in some cases, sticky floor mats. But reports of flaws in
the cars’ electronic control modules were never substantiated. (Toyota
ended up spending billions to settle those lawsuits, on a criminal investigation, and on recalls anyway.)
Gladwell deems it a “media circus” pushed by embarrassed drivers, regulators, lawyers and other opportunists who didn’t really understand how cars work. If you’re the kind of person who does, it’s a nice bit of vindication:
So where are we at now, in 2016? Things aren’t better. Semi-autonomous cars are already on our roads and fully self-driving cars are on the horizon, but we as drivers haven’t shown any progress in becoming safer or smarter.
(Jalopnik.com)
In case you’ve forgotten, starting in the late 2000s Toyota was deluged with reports of “runaway” vehicles. This led to lawsuits, federal investigations, recalls, frenzied and outright fraudulent news stories, and a black eye it took the automaker years to recover from.
Gladwell deems it a “media circus” pushed by embarrassed drivers, regulators, lawyers and other opportunists who didn’t really understand how cars work. If you’re the kind of person who does, it’s a nice bit of vindication:
I’ve used the phrase “car guys” in this episode a few times... what’s interesting about the car guys is none of them doubted ever this is a problem caused by drivers. Because they understand what a car is—it’s a complicated mechanical object that requires attention and skill to be operated safely. And non-car people have lost sight of that fact.“The average driver just expects a car to be completely flawless and to save their lives under any circumstances,” C&D’s Alterman adds.
So where are we at now, in 2016? Things aren’t better. Semi-autonomous cars are already on our roads and fully self-driving cars are on the horizon, but we as drivers haven’t shown any progress in becoming safer or smarter.
(Jalopnik.com)
$40 For A Car Wash But No Detail? F* That!
Tesla may offer $40 car washes at Superchargers
Bay Area car-wash company says its products can clean a car with just one cup of water.
If any Tesla Model S owners raise an eyebrow over paying $40 for a car wash at a Supercharger station, they shouldn't fret: Model X owners may have to pay $45 for the same service. The pricey clean could come from Eco Green Auto Clean which, like Tesla, is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and is pushes environmental sustainability. The company might have a pilot program in the works to wash Teslas at a Supercharger station in the electric vehicle maker's home city of Fremont, California, according to Electrek.
(AutoBlog.com)
Bay Area car-wash company says its products can clean a car with just one cup of water.
If any Tesla Model S owners raise an eyebrow over paying $40 for a car wash at a Supercharger station, they shouldn't fret: Model X owners may have to pay $45 for the same service. The pricey clean could come from Eco Green Auto Clean which, like Tesla, is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and is pushes environmental sustainability. The company might have a pilot program in the works to wash Teslas at a Supercharger station in the electric vehicle maker's home city of Fremont, California, according to Electrek.
(AutoBlog.com)
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