You know what disturbs me the most about the Olympics? It’s not Paul Hamm’s squeaky little girl voice. It’s not the fact that Michael Phelps needs to pull his swimsuit up because we’re all tired of seeing butt cleavage. It’s not even the “high speed super slow motion” thing, which now makes perfect sense after the comments left on my previous post. No, it’s the commercials.
Specifically, one commercial. There is a car commercial (I don’t remember what model), where this adorable little girl is standing outside the car, shouting magic phrases at it. “Abra cadabra!” Nothing happens, but she seems really intent on doing her magic trick.
Dad comes up and suggests she follows his lead and tries it like he does it. He demonstrates his “abra cadabra!” and then she does it with cute dramatic flourish. Viola! He clicks the auto-start feature on his car remote, and the engine starts to run! Voice over announces that this car now features an auto start to make your life better and all that.
Ok, really? Do we want little four year old kids across the country starting up cars? Is this a wise ad to run? I’ll admit, it’s a cute ad and all that – but seriously, something about it scares me. Why on earth is she trying to start up the car?
I cringe every time I see it. I know some kiddo is going to take the remote, start the car, it will be in drive and go plowing through the front of the house. I just know it will happen someday. Am I just being paranoid?
20 replies on “What Disturbs Me about the Olympics…”
This has been an ad-on feature for some time now. It is very useful in the north to warm up a car and of course in the south to cool off the car. The car should be in “Park” and also be locked or someone could steal it! It’s a very handy feature that I’d love to have. Of course, like with most things, the parents have to be careful what the children are doing…
You’re just being paranoid. She is not trying to start the car for nefarious reasons here… she saw Daddy start the car while standing 5 feet from it, and wants to see if she can do it too. The girl doesn’t even SEE the remote in daddy’s hands. Plus what Jeanette said, you’d want the door locked and the car in park to take advantage of that feature.
It’s all good, Christine, settle down. 🙂
It’s a fantastic commercial, and to answer your question, yes.
Well, I know you can leave a car in gear when it’s a stick, and it will start in whatever gear you left it in. But I don’t think it will start unless it’s in park if it’s an automatic.
I know this because I once left my automatic car in Drive when I turned it off, and when I tried to start it again hours later, it would not start. I called the Auto Club because I thought the battery was dead. Nope. It was just in drive. I felt like a doofus.
Oh well.
Still, it would make the car pretty easy to steal if it was just in someone’s driveway, or if the kid then got in the car and attempted to drive it, that could really spell disaster.
Yeah, common sense… it’s a good thing.
-H
I thought the same thing: sadly someone will be run over and killed by this feature. I appreciate new technology and conveniences as much as the next guy, but, like video screens in dashboards, this is not a good idea. So shiver or sweat for a few minutes when you get in your car in the winter or summer, grow up softies.
I for one have not grown weary of Michael Phelps’ butt cleavege. 😉
I agree with you Christine, I think it is scary.
I know the feature has been around for years as a custom add-on feature, and I know it’s handy in the North to heat up the car and the engine block. It just strikes me as odd every time I see it that the little girl wants to start the car. I’m a-ok with adults using it, but little kids? No. (I realize she thinks it’s magic, doesn’t know about the remote, etc. – it’s just that she’s trying to start the car.)
And my cousin, who used to work at a shop that sold the remote start custom add-on had tales of people – even employees, that started their car while in gear without a parking brake on. It’s one thing if it’s an automatic, but if it’s a standard, it could start moving.
I say…learn how to use the built in safety features and don’t worry about what might happen if you are lazy. This feature has been around quite awhile aleady with no problems I’ve heard of. Yes, if parents are LAZY lots of things can go wrong. As with anything in life you have to act responsibly and with caution. Gee, throw all the matches out of your house too!
you damn idiot… the auto will NOT MOVE (DRIVE, HOP, REVERSE, ANYTHING) without the KEY IN THE IGNITION!!! STFU for gods sake.
what annoys me is Paul Hamm not giving up his gold medal. C’mon, be a man about it.
LOL – you hit on all the issues I thought of – Hamm’s girly, squeaky voice, Phelp’s butt cleavage and that damn commercial. I don’t care what it’s selling, I’m tired of seeing it…
No paranoia there! I agree now that I have a child that we need to be sensitive to these types of issues since there will be accidents down the line. Sometimes technology can get us into trouble!
yes, you CAN start a car without a key in the ignition. my sister’s fiance put something like that in his car a few years ago.
Jeremy Jones – do some research before you start calling people names.
here’s a random link:
http://www.a1electric.com/alarm2.htm
Chatty Kathy….read again what Jeremy Jones said. He said the car will not MOVE without the key in the ignition. Of course, it will start as that is what this is used for! It is supposed to start the car and then heat it or cool it. He said it WON’T MOVE. How will that hurt anyone? It’s a fantastic gadget to have.
oops, my bad! *blush* but still… there should have not been any name calling whatsoever. there was no need to tell Christine to STFU.
Personally I’m disturbed by all the IBS commercials. When I’m eating chocolate ice cream getting my Olympics on, I don’t need an IBS commercial. And now they’ve amped the disclaimers. I don’t even want to type it! ICK! (Scroll down if you must) And they have to say that on the commercial?! Argh!
I keep wondering how Michael Phelps can even swim with his suit falling off like that. I keep waiting for it to fall off completly and give us all a show – i’m sure nbc would love that.
Heh. It cracks me up how low some of those swimsuits go… although it’s not so bad when it’s Michael Phelps… 🙂
Contrary to what you say – bring on more Michael butt-cleavage – the Man is perfect – great smile, great bulge, beautiful body, and to dream of that beautiful butt — yummy!