Mario So Funny

What do you mean it doesn't average 40 mpg?

Time for more truth in advertising?

Have you seen the 4 x 40 Hyundai rap video? It’s actually kind of amusing, except for the fact the ad is a complete lie. But who cares about the truth these days?

Not politicians, nor government agencies such as the FTC. Obviously not automakers. And apparently not consumers either. Maybe America just prefers fantasy over reality. I don’t know.

However, I do know the auto industry is full of a bunch of dirty rotten liars*.

Whether it’s global warming, just plain old pollution, or US national security, it just doesn’t matter. I mean those issues just don’t matter to automakers. It’s simply not their responsibility.

Consequently, I found it terribly ironic yesterday that the UAW took out advertisements during a bowl game to promote the negotiations between the UAW, domestic automakers and President Obama and how they created tens of thousands of American jobs. Created? Seriously? Anyway, all those jobs are significantly dependent upon foreign oil. In fact, domestic automakers are MORE dependent upon foreign oil than are the transplants also creating domestic jobs in America (And lets not even get into the statements from Steven Rattner about how the UAW should have took a bigger haircut during the negotiations.).

I’m just saying, if the UAW is so pro-American, why has the organization done so little to push domestic automakers to embrace significantly better fleet fuel economy for so long, even following 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan? Do UAW jobs matter so much more than US national security? Where is the vision?

“Money over everything. Money over everything.”

OK. Enough about that.

Unfortunately, even many of the transplants are just as pathetic when comes to advertising and fuel economy. Hyundai, for instance, claims to have 4 cars that achieve 40 mpg, except in the real world of course. Outside of fantasy land, cars like the Accent, for instance, average about 33 mpg, not 40. And, if driven predominantly in an urban environment, it might even be less than 30 mpg. But what’s 7 or 10 miles? 20 percent less than advertised is no big deal, right?

I mean I’m the smartest person in the world according to some studies**.

I realize that as long as there is some small print somewhere stating only based on EPA highway fuel economy estimates, then Hyundai isn’t actually lying. How noble.

So, maybe the next time your ride falls 20 percent short of 40 mpgs, you should take 20 percent off your next car payment?

* The auto industry isn’t really a bunch of liars, at least according to the law.
** I’m not really the smartest person in the world according to some studies.