Ford's new car for young women

Ford has a new car that they are marketing specifically to young women. Is this going on in the US, too? I don't remember which car it is, because although the ads are directed at "my demographic,"* the car itself is boring and in no way more appealing than any other car (but girls won't notice, cuz they don't even like cars to begin with!) But Ford really wants young woman in Australia to buy this car.

One ad features the type of girl who likes to shop and party and go out for drinks on the town. She describes an incident where she was headed to a party in her animal-print, platform heels, and her dad stopped her and told her she couldn't drive in heels. So she grabs her pink sneakers, puts the right one on, and keeps her animal-print, platform heel on her left foot. Problem solved! Except, oh no! Where on earth can she store the other sneaker and the other heel? She couldn't possibly toss them on the passenger seat, or on the floor, or in the backseat, or in the trunk. No no, women need a special drawer under the passenger seat to store their extra pairs of shoes. A dedicated shoe drawer. Don't you dare try to use it for anything other than shoes.

She then goes on to say, "I had to get petrol; I had to quickly swap over." Because God Forbid you get caught pumping gas in sneakers. Oh, the horror!

Another ad features The Girl Next Door, who is so glad that she has her new Ford Whatever because she just got engaged and now she and her fiance can drive to the place that they got engaged (the ad doesn't say why they need to return to that place, but it's the sentiment that counts, cuz you know, women are sentimental.) She then goes on to describe the benefits of the car, ending with, "And there's lots of space, for babies and that."

Thank you, Ford Australia, for considering the needs of young women: shoes and babies.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like shoes. I even like babies! I'd like to have lots of shoes and babies at some point in the future. But I don't see how this particular car is any different from any other car, save tiny sports cars, in the storage-of-shoes-and-babies arena. As a youngish woman, I am not convinced that this car offers anything that I want and can't get elsewhere. I'm also not convinced that my car needs differ greatly from those of a youngish man!

Hey Ford, you want me to buy a car from you? Make one that's exactly like a Honda Civic. Or a Prius. Ooh, or a Lexus IS 200! Love that car.


*Actually, I suspect that I may now be too old for the target demographic of these ads. After all, I am over thirty these days. Also, I don't have more money than sense, which is obviously the type of woman these ads are targeting.

Pet Peeve

Picture frame companies that put hard-to-remove stickers directly on the glass. Hellooooo??

Really Stupid, Pointless Meme

Put in your area code

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First number of prefix is dating status

1- Single but in love
2- Taken
3- Confused
4- single and confused (that’s me!)
5- taken and Happy
6- single
7- Taken and in Love
8- Want Someone but taken
9- Have a Crush
0- Just Dating
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Next number put your current mood

1- Happy
2- Sad
3- Confused
4- Afraid
5- Excited
6- Cheerful
7- Sleepy
8- Angry
9- Stressed
0- Other (I’m slightly bored and generally anxious; as usual)
---------------------
Next number is the color of your top

1- Black
2- blue
3- Red
4- Orange
5- white
6- Green
7- Yellow
8- Pink
9- Purple
0- Other (pink, of course!)
-------------------------
Next number is the month you were born in

1- Jan. or Feb.
2- Mar. (hey baby, what’s your sign?)
3- April
4- May
5- Jun. or Jul
6- Aug.
7- Sep.
8- Oct.
9- Nov.
0- Dec.
---------------
Next number is your fave color

1- Black
2- White
3- Pink
4- Blue
5- Green (yay chlorophyll!)
6- Purple
7- Yellow
8- Orange
9- Red
0- Other
-------------------------
Next number is your favorite sport

1- Soccer
2- Basketball
3- Swimming
4- Baseball (I’m not a sportsy person, but I’ve always loved playing and watching baseball)
5- Tennis
6- Football
7- Volleyball and/or Softball
8- Golf
9- Wrestling
0- Other
-----------------
Last number is your sign

1- Aries (I have no idea what that says about me, and I don’t care)
2- Leo
3- Sagittarius
4- Taurus or Virgo
5- Capricorn
6- Gemini
7- Libra
8- Aquarius
9- Cancer
0- Scorpio or Pisces

I stumbled on this meme today at work in progress. At first, I thought it was something completely different than it is. The blogger had titled the entry “what your digits say about you,” I thought you were supposed to use your actual phone number and it was like a personality test. But that was wrong (and the title was misleading). You’re just supposed to choose the things that fit you, and construct a phone number from it. That seems way less interesting then a personality test. Pooh. Plus, what if you’re “taken and happy” but also “in love?” The test implies that “taken and happy” and “taken and in love” are mutually exclusive. You can’t be in love and also happy? Harsh!

At first, when I was reading it wrong, I thought there were ten questions, not seven, and you were supposed to start by area code. I had to laugh because the first number of my area code (back in the States) is 4, which corresponds to “single and confused.” So true! But it turns out that’s not at all what’s going on. I am thoroughly disappointed in this meme. It is poorly written, confusing, and lame anyway. Even if it were written better, is still would be a totally pointless waste of time. Meme’s are supposed to interesting. This one is not.

So my number is 425-400-2541 (yeah yeah yeah, I’m a snobby 425er). Now what am I supposed to do with it? Is this supposed to tell me something insightful about me? Or is it simply to tell my blogging audience a bunch of useless information about me? Most memes are designed to do that, which is fine, but this one really bugs me. If I wanted to tell you all that, why wouldn’t I find a simpler way to do it? Why wouldn’t I just give my answers (well, I did, actually)? Who of you really wants to scroll up and down trying to figure out what my “phone number” actually means? I certainly wouldn't do it, no offense. I’d like to track down the writer of this meme and give him or her a piece of my mind.

Photo: older photo of Narcissus, but the expression on his face corresponds to how I feel about this meme.