A blank canvas. A carte blanche. A free hand. Do whatever you want.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Well, except for the fact that there’re few things more terrifying that the prospect of having no rules at all. Trying to comprehend the possibilities of complete freedom is enough to make your brain go all Halliwell on your arse and for you to curl up in a ball on the floor whilst gently sobbing for your mother.

That’s why when we have the choice to do whatever we want, so many of us end up doing nothing at all (or writing blogs about adverts and the such).

So, that’s my thoughts on freedom - it’s not all it cracked up to be - some times you need rules to stop you from becoming a gibbering wreck.

Anyway, here’s a question for you:

Do you remember the Ford Cougar?

It was a “sport saloon” (according to the internet) and Ford sold about 3 of them in the UK (according to my brain) in the late 90’s.

For those that remember the car this might sound like quite a high estimate of actual cars sold but I know they sold at least one because I worked with a bloke that had one. Can you believe he was a smug, middle-class, bell-end with a misplaced opinion of himself and a bad taste in woolly jumpers and a worse taste in cars? And, using water tight logic, seeing as I worked with like 50 people I figure they probably sold two more.

Anyway the Cougar was named after the “large, tawny cat, Felis concolor, of North and South America: now greatly reduced in number and endangered in some areas” (thanks Dictionary.Com) where as the wholly differently named Kuga - the new SUV from Ford - means “we like the name ‘Cougar’ but we already used it on another car”.

But believe me, “Cougar” and “Kuga” are two very different names. They’re spelt different for a start. Look:

“Cougar” and “Kuga”.

See?

And go on, say them out loud.

“Cougar”
“Kuga”
“Cougar”
“Kuga”

Hear? Sound different too, don’t they?

“What do you drive?” Someone might ask you.
“A Ford Cougar” you might reply.
“What are you, a smug middle-class bell-end from the late 90’s?” they might mock.
“No, I said Kuga. Totally different name.” you might be forced to say.
“Oh, I misheard.” they might apologise.

Here’s another question for you:

Do you know the difference between the Ford Maverick and the Nissan Terrano?

If you say you do, then you’re either talking about the name badge or you’re a liar. Because they were the same. Built in the same factory by the same Spaniards.

By sharing the costs, it’s less expensive to build a new car, you see, so there’s more money in the coffers for the annual hunting trip to shoot Kugas (or at least something that sounds like a Kuga) in North and South America.

Here’s a final question for you:

Have you heard of the Nissan Qashqui?

Hhm, I thought you might have.

Now, I’m not implying that the Kuga and the Qashqui are the same. It’s just I can’t help but think that the canvas that Ford started drawing the new Kuga on wasn’t quite as blank as they’d like us to believe.

The Kuga’s probably a much better car for it too.