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Self-serving ad of the New Year

Would you drive to a restaurant, and ask the host(ess) if it’s a good time for you to eat out?  What do you think they’re going to say?

Wait. You say you think that’s stupid, and who would do that?  Well, apparently the National Association of Automobile Dealers (NADA) thinks that stupid person is you!

For the last few days, they’ve been running full page ads in some newspapers, that claim that “It’s the best time in years to buy a car.”

Granted, most stores make that claim at one time or another, but the idiocy of the ads rises to an new level. They are actually encouraging you to get your butt off your sofa, go to your nearest car dealer, and ASK YOUR DEALER IF HE THINKS YOU SHOULD BUY A CAR!

Anyone want to bet that he says “Yes”?

Now, I understand the desperation.  Just in the area where I live (North Texas), which actually has been one of the metropolitan areas that has been most spared by the current economic downturn, new car sales plunged 40% in November ‘08, the steepest one-month decline in 20 years, and a 23-year car dealer closed its doors and laid off its 55 employees 3 days before Christmas. Nationwide, things are probably worse, with 20,000 car dealer employees losing their job in October ‘08 alone, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Still, how about not insulting our intelligence?  Asking us to inquire from car dealers whether it’s in our best interest to buy a car is like asking us to trust a mortgage broker on whether we can afford a house: we’re not that stu–.

Never mind.

P.S. You can find the full page ads here.