Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Ad Nauseam

SUVs Are Not Cool, Unless They’re “Hybrid Hybrids”

2:15 PM EST on November 20, 2007

 
Here's a pretty repulsive ad for Ford's Escape Hybrid SUV. In it, a middle-aged father and his middle school-aged daughter are strolling from their leafy suburban home to the family truckster -- a green one, natch -- when the daughter asks to be dropped off a block from the theater where, we're to assume, her friends are hanging out.

At first you think that, considering dad's expanding waistline, she's looking to get some exercise. But it turns out she's embarrassed to be seen in an SUV, since "people in that [presumably urban] part of town are riding bikes and have hybrids and stuff."

Ah, but the family truckster is a hybrid, dad points out nonchalantly.

"Like a hybrid hybrid?" asks the daughter.

"I don't know what a 'hybrid hybrid' is, but yes," dad replies.

Queue voice over proclaiming the 34 MPG Escape hybrid "the most fuel efficient SUV on Earth."

Cut to father and daughter driving away, as daughter, now inaudible, explains that an anemic 34 miles-per-gallon hardly qualifies the Escape as a "hybrid hybrid" -- any more than the Chevy Tahoe is the "Green Car of the Year" -- and asks dad why the family can't move closer to the theater so he and mom might stave off heart disease and she wouldn't have to be ferried around in "the greenwashing machine."

Video via Dailymotion

Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York'’s dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Parking Placards

Justice Dept., Citing Streetsblog Reporting, Threatens to Sue NYPD Over Cops’ Sidewalk Parking

The city is now facing a major civil rights suit from the Biden Administration if it doesn't eliminate illegal parking by cops and other city workers.

April 19, 2024
Streetsblog USABicycling

What to Say When Someone Claims ‘No One Bikes or Walks in Bad Weather’

Yes, sustainable modes are more vulnerable to bad weather. But that's why we should invest more in them — not less.

April 19, 2024
MTA

NYC Transit’s New Operations Planning Chief Wants To Fight ‘Ghost Buses’

One-time transit advocate and current MTA Paratransit VP Chris Pangilinan will oversee bus and subway operations for the whole city.

April 19, 2024
Today's Headlines

Friday’s Headlines: Gimme Bus Shelter Edition

The days of the Landmarks Preservation Commission reviewing every proposed bus shelter in landmarked districts may be no more. Plus more news.

April 19, 2024
Speed limits

Deal Reached: Hochul Says ‘Sammy’s Law’ Will Pass

The bill, though imperfect, has been four years in the making.

April 18, 2024
See all posts