OH WELL.

Editor's Note: This week, Peter reflects on the increasingly sad and truly pathetic state of the U.S. auto industry, which is rapidly becoming a bit player on the global stage. In On The Table, a look at the 2027 FIAT Topolino. Our video this week features Jim Hall commenting on the five greatest drivers he ever witnessed. Our AE Song of the Week is "Where Is My Husband" by Raye. In Fumes, Peter presents Part III of his series, "The Racers." And finally, in The Line, we have F1 results from Mexico City and MotoGP results from Malaysia. Remember, you can read past issues by scrolling down and clicking on "Next 1 Entries." We're on it! -WG

 

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit.

 

I can't help about the shape I'm in
I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Now, when I talked to God, I knew He'd understand
He said, "Stick by my side and I'll be your guiding hand
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to"
Ooh, well*

 

When Peter Green delivered this raucous blues song for the original Fleetwood Mac way back when, it was a gritty and non-commercial band, it resonated deeply with me. Especially the line: “But don’t ask me what I think of you I might not give you the answer that you want me to.”

 

I didn’t know it back then, but those words would pretty much come to define, in a way, what Autoextremist would be all about. When I was fired from selling cars after college – after just two months, I might add – the General Manager at the dealership said that I just didn’t fit in, that I “marched to a different drummer.”

 

He was correct, of course, and truer words were never spoken to describe me. Selling cars was about as far away from who I was as I could get, of course, but the other thing he said, about me not fitting in, was even more perceptive on his part, because I’ve never really fit in, anywhere.

 

I always zagged while the rest of the crowd zigged. I’ve been the quintessential outsider as long as I can remember. I never went with the crowd and I always went my own way.

 

Not fitting in would have its consequences, to be sure. A prime example? I found that operating outside of what was “expected” of me would cost me dearly, especially over my 22-year advertising career. In a go-along-to-get-along auto industry as practiced here in the Motor City, one that rewarded its go-along-to-get-along advertising agency “partners” for good behavior, there just wasn’t room for a creative who marched to a different drummer.

I could stand out with a successful creative idea, but lingering there too long would always cause me problems. A brief flurry of visibility was fine, but then I was supposed to go back in my cave never to be heard from again until called upon. And saying exactly what I thought about a campaign, a client’s decidedly mediocre “BelchFire 8” or senior agency operatives who took the term “serial incompetence” to an entirely new level – well, as you might imagine, it didn’t go well for me.

 

But in the end, I am comfortable in my own skin. Which is more than I can say for the spineless weasels, recalcitrant twerps and unmitigated hacks I encountered along the way. Oh yes, there were plenty on the ad agency side of the equation, but even as grotesque as some of those people were, I found that the clients operated in an entirely different dimension of suck all their own.

 

That some of these people were given operational authority over multi-million-dollar ad campaigns was frightening, and at times, simply outrageous. But that was Detroit (and even Nissan as I would come to find out during my stint on that account), where mediocrity was bliss, and a higher priority was placed on making sure bosses’ egos were properly massaged than on doing actual high-quality advertising.

 

And now that the auto industry has switched to the strategy of throwing anything out on the Internet to see what sticks over doing high-concept, big picture advertising, I’m seeing boatloads of money being flushed right down the drain as auto marketing executives strain to justify their existence. To say it’s not going well is an understatement for this and every other year.

 

Whenever I comment about this subject, someone always writes in to say that it’s the same thing in corporate America too. Actually, some of it is the same, but there is no other industry in corporate America quite like the automobile business, because designing, developing, building and selling cars and trucks is one of the most complicated endeavors on earth. And even when these companies get it right for the most part, the ability to deliver a product in a timely fashion with genuine quality is another thing altogether. Just ask Ford.

 

That some pretty great advertising work emerged from the wreckage of this toxic cesspool of an environment is a testament to the True Believers (yes, they’re in advertising too) who insisted on giving a shit and consistently delivered creative excellence even though the clients – and some of their own agency operatives – were too stupid to understand what was going on. And that’s putting it charitably.

 

Which brings me to the state of today’s auto industry.

 

I was amused to read several articles of late about the U.S. auto industry being left behind the global auto industry because of our capricious tariffs and steadfast refusal to embrace where technology is going. Duh. I’ve only been writing about this for months now, but the rest of the media is just now putting out stories about this? I could say WTF but why bother?

 

As I’ve said on many occasions, the U.S. auto industry will find itself repeating what happened to the British Motor Industry. Our industry will keep churning out SUVs, pickups and huge crossovers that literally can’t be sold anywhere else in the world. Meanwhile, the rest of the global auto industry will forge ahead with lightning-fast developments in EVs, including lighter-weight batteries, charging speeds, range, infrastructure innovations and everything associated with The Future.

 

That means the U.S. auto industry will stew in a skewed reality of its own making, while its market share continues downward and the rest of the Global auto world blows by, leaving it like a house by the side of the road.

 

It would be sad if it weren’t so pathetic.

 

Oh well.

 

That’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

 

 

*“Oh Well” by Fleetwood Mac, from the album “Then Play On” (1969). Written by Peter Alan Green. Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind.

 

  

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG