Volvo - The Wheels on the Car | TV's Worst Adverts

Volvo - The Wheels on the Car

16 September 2007 by Silky

Remember Volvo?

If you’ve ever worn tweed, lived in the South-East or attended a gymkhana circa 1988, the chances are you do.

It was your car of choice in the 1980’s and for the start of the 1990’s. They were sensible, reliable, and above all safe. You could do the school run comforted by the knowledge that if one of the mums from the rough estate round by Safeways crashed her XR2i into you, she’d be the one taking her kids to A&E, not you.

What more could one, want?

But then something changed. It turned out you did want more. You want more seat-height and axle-clearance.

So the 4×4 replaced Volvo as the middle-classes APC of choice. A Chelsea Tractor? Why, it’s like driving a bloody tank.

“Yah, my Humvee actually took part in the invasion of Iraq. Still go the blood of a few rag-heads on the tyres, you know. Fnar, fnar.” claimed every self-satisfied sloan ranging racist across the land.

But advertisers decided that people buying 4×4 weren’t doing the school run, they decided that they were actually doing off-roading. So their ludicrous adverts feature their 4×4’s doing off-road activities (Searching for diamonds in Africa or changing in different creatures for example…). Oh and we bought it. We really believed that we were on some expedition to the North Pole and not just dropping the boys off at St Marks (CofE Primary) before going for a coffee (and a gossip) at Pippa’s.

And it seems we still must because in their latest advert for the all terrain XC-70, Volvo are trying to get back in on the act:

Fair play to Volvo though, I’ll be glad of that super traction control weekday morning’s because the down slopes of some of the sleeping policemen round where I live are bloody traitorous.

4Responses:

clangnuts

September 19th, 2007 12:17 am

Everyone knows that Volvo’s are driven by complete tossers. The theory is that Volvo drivers feel so safe, they put everyone else on the road (and off road now) at risk. Those ramblers on foot don’t look happy - they are terrified of being hit by the lunatic in an XC70!
moz

September 23rd, 2007 11:43 am

This advert shows an off-road vehicle in a completely different light. Instead of small=pricked 4X4 driving tossers behind the wheel, we have a nice gent and his bird picking up some chaps along the way. They are in no hurry. I for one am glad they have left the screeching electric guitar and shots of mudpits for something a bit more civilized, even if it is nowhere near civilzation.
Lee

October 3rd, 2007 11:05 am

The adverts not that bad looking, and the happy little song always makes me think of the one you sing when you see gypsies turning the local beauty spots into rubbish tips.
But it’s a bloody 4×4 as driven by all the tossers and Inadequates throughout this country. If these vehicles were truly “off-road” as in never being allowed on the road I would have nothing against them, but unfortunately the people that drive them are never likely to go driving up and down mountains and probably panic if they get a bit of mud on the wheels.
So any advert for 4×4’s gets a 5 from me.
ian terry

March 2nd, 2008 6:37 pm

lynx dark . how racist is that add ….. if it was called lynx light and a black man had women all over him would the pc brigade complain ? its racist as shit and all its done is made people like me more pissed off .