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

Ad Nauseam: Nissan Goes Car-Free for NYC Promo

nissan_leaf_promotion.jpgBicycles seem to figure more prominently in Nissan's Leaf promotion than Leafs (or Leaves, as the case may be).

It looks like one car maker has figured out an intriguing way to market its product to a city audience: Just don't show it at all. In fact, try to sell it by appealing to the innate desire for the very qualities your product squeezes out of city neighborhoods.

That's what Nissan has done with its New York City promotion for the Leaf, an electric car slated for mass production later this year. Nissan marketing teams hit the streets earlier this week with a faux Park(ing) Day concept. Instead of filling curbside space with sod and benches, they put out some bucket seats and signs pointing to journey-to-zero.com, a flash site that I found too irritating to navigate.

As far as I can tell, this attempt to sell cars by co-opting one of the signature awareness-building strategies of the livable streets movement does not display any actual cars, or even show the image of a Nissan Leaf. It's a car-free PR campaign for cars.

(Obligatory disclaimers: Replacing internal combustion with electric
batteries is great. But the zero emissions hype is way overblown, the
city-destroying space-hogging problem doesn't disappear with the
fossil-fuel powered engines, and electric cars can be driven just as
recklessly as conventional cars.)

Apparently, the promoters got a few people to sit in these things when they rolled them out on Wednesday. But really, they need to absorb a few lessons from the Park(ing) Day masters. The sitting arrangement inside a car is inherently anti-social. Staring at a headrest and the back of someone's scalp just doesn't translate to an urban public space.

Maybe that's why the people organizing this campaign also felt compelled to hire some folks to hand out flowers. You need a little public space programming to give people a reason to stop and memorize the journey-to-zero URL.

If you want to see one of these set-ups for yourself, the Nissan promoters will be putting out their bucket seats again all day tomorrow. They have 20 spots reserved. I don't have the exact locations but I'm told there will be four each at Union Square, the Bowery, SoHo, and Tribeca. No word yet on how much the city got paid for all this highly desirable curbside real estate.

So I think it's time to coin a phrase. What's the livable streets equivalent of greenwashing?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

The Explainer: What To Know About The MTA’s New Congestion Pricing-Backed Debt

You asked for it, you got it: a 2,000-word explainer on municipal bond sales.

February 5, 2025

Wind in their Sales: Congestion Pricing is No ‘Toll’ on the Broadway Box Office

Despite doom prognostications, congestion pricing has not hurt Broadway's bottom line a bit — and, in fact, may be boasting it.

February 5, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Tin Cup Edition

Road safety wasn't on the agenda for Mayor Adams in Albany on Tuesday. Plus more news.

February 5, 2025

Kirsten Gillibrand Trots Out Bogus FDNY ‘Toxins’ in Quest to Weaken Congestion Pricing

Gillibrand's solution to potential toxins in the subway is more automobile toxins in the air.

February 4, 2025

Memo to Mayor Adams: Reliable Buses Start with You

Congestion pricing’s success and legacy depends on improving bus service. Mayor Adams must act.

February 4, 2025
See all posts