Fear has gripped us as a nation, fear has overwhelmed our senses and has ultimately driven us to make idiotic decisions. We were fearful after the housing bubble burst because we feared our homes would be worth nothing, we were fearful after the economy went into a nose dive because some bankers on Wall Street decided to make a ton of money off stinky mortgage backed securities, and we are fearful now. We are fearful of our depleting oil reserves, fearful of killing our planet, and terrified as to what to do next... so we make idiotic decisions and refuse to think thoughtful, independent thought. The fear driven idiotic decisions I am referring to, of course, are the ever growing number of people who spend their hard earned money on the Toyota Prius.
As a student of business with a special place in my heart for the art of marketing, I have nothing but praise for the geniuses behind the subsequent stellar success of the Prius, for they have effectively branded and sold a complete lie. This lie is perpetrated by those ecovirogranolaists (and housewives) who refuse to, as I believe I put it before, think thoughtful, independent thought. In fact, I believe they will pretty much accept anything thrown at them as truth. (I see a necessary study into percentage of Scientologists that drive Priuses)
For those of you who are completely lost (and probably angry) as to why I am defiling the house of Prius, I am referring of course to the gross misconception most people have about the car itself. While it certainly gets great gas mileage (around 50mpg hwy) I find problems as I look across the entire supply chain. For those of you who didn't go to business school, the supply chain refers to the entire process of sourcing materials through the manufacturing process which all leads up to a finished product. There are some misleading elements to the Prius and its super green persona, if you are actually concerned with the earth and her well being, I imagine you are familiar with the term "carbon footprint," or basically the total amount of carbon dioxide (BAD STUFF) emitted into the atmosphere due to consumption of fossil fuels. While people are fawning over MPG, (yes, still an important element) the bigger task at hand is to reduce our carbon footprint as individuals.
Here is where the Prius fails. The supply chain is stupid long, and grossly ineffective. It comes down to the fact that the overall carbon footprint of a Toyota Prius is no better (and some argue, catastrophically worse) than a Hummer. And that in order to make owning a Prius worth while in terms of gas consumption, you must drive it nearly 300,000 miles! Not to mention what happens to batteries when they eventually die... some part of them will go into a landfill and leak acid into our beloved mother earth.
I bring our focus back to the brilliant marketers over at Toyota, they have taken a technology, and one that is essentially a band-aid until we come up with a better solution, and positioned it in a way that the Prius has become a status symbol. Yes, in the same way owning a Ferrari or Lamborghini screams "I AM RICH, NOTICE ME!!" The Prius sneers "I am far more responsible and in touch with our planet than you are in your M3. Psh." But the reality is essentially the opposite, and now you are feeling a little bit salty. (my bad.)
So, you ask, "WHAT EVER SHALL I DOOOO?! I just want to do my part to help out the environment!" Fair enough. What few people know is that a silent juggernaut exits, one that has won countless awards and is currently in it's SIXTH year of being named "Most Sustainable Car Maker" according to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, that car maker is.... drumroll... The BMW Group.
With one of the most forward thinking corporate sustainability initiatives that include hydrogen and clean diesel, BMW is constantly seeking innovations that go beyond oil and beyond the "band-aid." And honestly, if you have ever been in a few BMWs from different model years, they all essentially look the same on the inside, with minor tweaks and adjustments. They've been perfecting the model for a long time, and have been immensely successful.
So, it comes down to this, if fear has driven you into buying a Prius, it's ok all is not lost. Just sell it to the pandering masses and buy that M3 you always sneered at, but secretly wanted reallllll bad.
IA, out.
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