Don't Hate the Giant Bow

Every year around Christmas time they start running those ads on TV where someone surprises their spouse with a new car with a very large red bow on it.  Right afterwards they tell you that you can lease one of these cars for about $600/month, so I guess the implication is that you should lease one. "Merry Christmas, Honey!  Look, I got you a Lexus!  Ok, actually, I leased it, and now we have to make the payments.  Yeah, aren't you excited??  

Honey?"  

And if he didn't lease it for you and just paid cash?  How many of us would be really happy to hear that our spouse just spent $30-$100k of OUR money without even discussing it?  Who are these people?   

These ads are pretty obnoxious.  Is it my imagination, or is it always the man getting a Lexus for his wife? The message is either (a) If you really loved her, you'd buy her a Lexus for Christmas, or (b) If you were a good wife, he'd have bought you a Lexus for Christmas, or c) Discussing the purchase of an expensive car with your spouse is something only poor people do.

The Lexus "December to Remember Sales Event" ads have been running every year for over a decade now, and during that time, the economy and has tanked, and the ads have started to seem more and more bizarre.  Besides the whole "we are the 1%" vibe, which seems somewhat unfashionable right now, I have a feeling that not everyone feels more loved when their spouse commits them to an extra $600 monthly payment.

The other night I Googled the ad, and you can't believe how many blogs and forums are dedicated to hating it.  Some of them are actually pretty funny.  (If you're not too delicate, try this one, for example: http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/lexus-commercial-rant.php)  It seems people's hatred of this ad has reached a new pitch along with public anger over the wealth disparity in this country.  This ad just seems to rub salt in many open wounds, and lot of people feel those ridiculous giant red bows are somehow the ultimate insult.

This was Honda's response to the Lexus ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OThgvHPQkc

It starts with their pitchman saying, "Are you a millionaire? No?  Well, then you probably don't give cars to people as presents," as he knocks a big red bow off a Honda Civic.

Should Lexus perhaps try another approach?  Maybe one based less on making the wealthy appear smug to the non? This is apparently considered to be a very effective ad campaign.  The demand for the oversized red bows is so strong that Lexus keeps a warehouse full of them in Torrance, CA.  The bows cost dealers almost $300 each and apparently must be returned post-surprise (which I found surprising in itself).

The company that makes the bows is King Size Bows in Newport Beach, CA.  http://www.kingsizebows.com/bow-uses/lexus-december-to-remember-car-bow, and by the way, they encourage you to contact them to discuss your oversized bow needs (for all those other enormous gifts you weren't quite sure how to wrap).

I keep wondering how I would feel if my husband surprised me with a Lexus under a giant bow, and I just can't imagine it because that would be about as likely as him buying me shoes.  He knows better than to get me something that says, "in all our years of marriage, I've learned nothing." 

To me the ads also say, "Don't worry, doll face, I'll take care of you and buy you diamonds and furs and cars. Don't worry your pretty little head about the numbers."  I guess none of that is insulting if it's 1940 and you're in a Raymond Chandler book, but I think this creates an opportunity for the wealthy to hate this ad too.  And I haven't even gotten into how much people hate the theme song from the ad (or the fact that you're supposed to recognize it and look out the window, because you know what comes next!), or the people who find it particularly nauseating to watch politically correct lefties giving each other hybrid SUV's.  In fact, I'm pretty sure there's something in here for EVERYONE to hate.

And isn't that really what the holidays are all about?  They're about setting aside our political and socioeconomic differences and coming together in peace and harmony around our mutual hatred for a car ad.  Maybe we should thank Lexus.