September 14, 2010

"My friends, don't ever try to hug a polar bear."

"You will die."
A polar bear will rip your head off. If a polar bear shows up in your driveway, run for the hills -- or don't leave your house. Do not go out there and let it hug you. Headline: "Polar Bear Attacks Woman in Berlin Zoo -- April 11, 2009. A polar bear attacked a woman in Berlin Zoo Friday afternoon after she climbed a fence and jumped into its habitat during feeding time." She wanted to show the polar bear that she felt sorry for it, that she understood and supported efforts to make its habitat safer. 
Nissan is making the world unsafe for people who take things literally.



You decide:
It's delightful, charming, well-made.
It's dangerously stupid.
A bit piano-tinklingly sentimental, but okay.
  
pollcode.com free polls

54 comments:

Peter V. Bella said...

It just goes to show there are really stupid people in the world. Are we supposed to pity this idiot?

The commercial is just AGL porn.

pious agnostic said...

I wish I had access to videos of Polar Bears killing baby Harp Seals. It'd just about wipe out the saccharine taste of that commercial.

traditionalguy said...

I propose starting up a Polar Bear Extinction Movement, of the non-voluntary type.

chickelit said...

Mr wrote: I wish I had access to videos of Polar Bears killing baby Harp Seals.

Next best thing: linkage

WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE

q12345q6789 said...

I wonder if those who voted for: "it's dangerously stupid" were taking the poll question literally by voting on taking this commercial literally; or possibly were taking the post's question figuratively and addressing the underlying enviro-messaging as "dangerous"... I was in the treacle camp

garage mahal said...

Great, Limbaugh and the Nanny Police strikes again, telling me what I can and can't do.

This is clearly an attack! Insane.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

You forgot to include an option of just plain idiotic.

My husband and I were discussing these hybrids today. California is over 1100 miles long. I'm at one end of the State and in my car it takes two good days of driving to go to the south. I maybe could do it in one day if I was younger and used drugs...ahem.

Just how convenient is it going to be to drive a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt to L.A.? Not very.

These cars have very little purpose or use, unless you live IN the city and never plan to leave the city.

Stupid waste of money and they take more energy resources to produce than a traditional automobile.

The "smug" factor reeks.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Great, Limbaugh and the Nanny Police strikes again, telling me what I can and can't do.

@garage. Go ahead and hug a polar bear if you want. I doubt that Limbaugh is going to really try to stop you.

Larry J said...

Go ahead, Garage and show Limbaugh what kind of man you are. Go hug a polar bear. We'll await with amusement the inevitable outcome.

I'm Full of Soup said...

wv = fifflu!

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Polar bears are just stupid brown bears that got trapped in the ice ages.

If they were smarter, they would be in Yellowstone raiding "picakinick" baskets with Yogi.

They have survived ice ages AND previous global warming periods. I'm not worried about them and I'm certainly not going to be guilted into buying a worthless piece of shit 'green' car because the bears are are sort of pretty to look at.

Larry J said...

My husband and I were discussing these hybrids today. California is over 1100 miles long. I'm at one end of the State and in my car it takes two good days of driving to go to the south. I maybe could do it in one day if I was younger and used drugs...ahem.

Just how convenient is it going to be to drive a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt to L.A.? Not very.


The Leaf isn't a hybrid but instead a pure electric car. It's range is limited to about 100 miles so it's limited to local driving. A Volt depends first on battery power for the first 30 miles or so but has a gas engine for extended range, so it's a type of hybrid. A hybrid like a Prius uses a gas engine for most driving with supplemental electric power for acceleration. My wife and I took ours on a 3 day, 1500 mile trip a few weeks ago. It did fine. I think I got a bad tank of gas at Rapid City, SD because the mileage dropped into the low 40 range. It had been averaging well over 50 MPG before that. I kind of think the station sold me E85 at regular gas prices but can't prove it.

Paddy O said...

Binky wants a hug!

Anonymous said...

One thread answers another:

"She wanted to show the polar bear that she felt sorry for it, that she understood and supported efforts to make its habitat safer.

As in...

"I celebrate Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf."

Automatic_Wing said...

So how much is this glorified golf cart?

jr565 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
roesch-voltaire said...

Most folks, like myself, commute less than 35 miles per day, which is why the Leaf, and other EVs in the making, make perfect sense. When I want to make the long haul, I will continue to use our SUV. And the old folks who worry about hugging a polar bear, are the same one who claim gaming makes kids violent because they can not distinguish reality from the virtual world-- give me a break.

jr565 said...

I highly recommend the Movie Grizzly man for insight into crazy people who like to hug bears. It doesn't end weill for Tim and his gf.

jr565 said...

I like how the polar bear recognizes the Leaf as being an environmentally friendly car. Because bears are sensient that way. They are liberals, they read the new york times. They voted for Obama.
One thing I note though, is the guy in the commercial seems to live alone.No wife, no kids. Yet seems to have a pretty big house for one person. While he can be commended for his purchase of a green car, maybe he's still wasting energy powering his big screen tvs. Maybe the bear should still rip his head off because he lives in the suburbs and not in the city, where people don't necesarily need cars.

garage mahal said...

Go ahead, Garage and show Limbaugh what kind of man you are. Go hug a polar bear. We'll await with amusement the inevitable outcome.

We're driving out to Yellowstone next Friday, I'll probably be a little tied up to hug any bears though. I read you went thru Rapid City.......what was your route?

The Crack Emcee said...

Two words:

Grizzly Man.

Also, it's amazing how much mainstream hopes can easily be tied to the NewAge outlook - in this case "fuzzy bunny" environmentalism - as exemplified by Grizzly Man.

Are there any adults out there?

Big Mike said...

@garage, don't hug grizzly bears, either.

Synova said...

I grew up around large animals... the domestic sort. Domestic animals aren't safe. I've never in my life been stoopid enough to think that wild animals are safe.

I notice each and every time some nimrod says like it's gospel truth, "The animal knows if I'm a friend or not. It can tell that I dont' want to hurt it." It happens A LOT.

Foal wound up in fencing? "It knows I'm here to help."

A injured or sick dog? "It knows I'm a good person. Animals can always tell."

This idiocy isn't fringe. It's mainstream.

garage mahal said...

I won't be hugging any wildlife. Weather permitting I'm hoping to get a half day of trout fishing in Bozeman MT with my nephew who guides.

Methadras said...

Are you fucking kidding me? DIE LEFTARDS!!! DIE!!!

KCFleming said...

That polar bear is hawt.
If yer into bears.
NTTAWWT.

Don't be hatin' on trans-species love.

Methadras said...

garage mahal said...

Great, Limbaugh and the Nanny Police strikes again, telling me what I can and can't do.

This is clearly an attack! Insane.


No, it's intentional, willful, leftard, enviro-kook propaganda, you stupid cunt. They don't even bother to hide it anymore.

David said...

Proles are rubes. That's the belief that creates ads like this.

Joe said...

I go with DBQ: just plain idiotic.

(Electricity is MAGIC!)

According Nissan's testing:

* Cruising at 38 miles per hour with ambient temps of 68 degrees, you could squeeze 138 miles out of the Leaf.

* Averaging 24 mph in city traffic drops range to 105 miles, assuming air conditioning (A/C) is not in use on a 77-degree day.

* In heavy stop-and-go traffic, averaging just 6 mph with temps of 86 degrees and A/C on, range drops to 47 miles.

* At 55 mph on the highway in 95 degree temps and A/C on, expect range to be 70 miles.

* Winter temps of 14 degrees with the heater on, will drop range to 62 miles in stop-and-go traffic, assuming an average speed of 15 mph.

In other words, even if I were inclined to get such a car, more than half the time, I'd run out of power before getting home or get really damn close.

On the other hand, my 99 Civic averages 37 mpg for this same commute and it's paid for.

Bruce Hayden said...

I won't be hugging any wildlife. Weather permitting I'm hoping to get a half day of trout fishing in Bozeman MT with my nephew who guides.

Beautiful country, both Yellowstone and Montana. Enjoy. And you should be safe hugging the fish.

The problem with polar bears is that they truly are apex predators, which means that they view everything else, including us, as potential prey. At least the black bears that seem to be around wherever I spend much time have some worries, some times, about humans.

It was weird a year ago. I was watching some nature program, and they were alternating between problem bears and alligators. I knew things were close to home when I first saw a ski lift in the background, and then familiar sheriff's cars and deputy outfits. Turns out that the footage was taken about 10 miles from here. Unfortunately, after repeated attempts to move the bear away from human habitation, he was terminated. Of course, they didn't show that, but just mentioned it at the end of the segment as an aside. Oh, and they used a different euphemism.

dbp said...

The commercial is idiotic, so it is well targeted to potential buyers of the electric car.

Bruce Hayden said...

I think that the reason that I didn't like the commercial is that it assumes that we all agree that AGW is endangering polar bears. Never mind the facts.

But, then, if you question either AGW or that it is killing of all the cute little (half ton) polar bears, you probably aren't going to waste you money on their product in the first place.

KCFleming said...

When your Nissan Leaf runs out of power on the highway in the middle of winter in Minneapolis, you can cut the polar bear open and crawl inside and save yourself.

Joseph Conrad taught me that.

Later, you can make a coat outta the fur, as a souvenir. And the feet would make some really cool slippers.

KCFleming said...

How's polar bear meat, BTW?
Gamey?

Ray said...

I would have a lot less anger about electric cars if more of the electricity came from nuclear, or dead birds. As it is, in a lot of places, it's merely a cosmetic choice of where and in what form fossil fuels will be burned. Polar bear sad again.

Shanna said...

I like it. It's a polar bear! And he's hugging someone just like my old (very large) dog used to hug me, with those big paws! I think it's cute. There is a reason why Coke does those commercials with baby polar bears around christmas.

On a political level, I don't have to agree with the politics but I would rather watch a polar bear walking around in a car commercial thousands of times more than I have enjoyed pretty much any car commercial I have ever seen. (car commercials, in general, suck)

And of course, anyone who hugs a real polar bear is a complete idiot and deserves the darwin award they are about to get.

Dark Eden said...

Great, Limbaugh and the Nanny Police strikes again, telling me what I can and can't do.

This is clearly an attack! Insane.
>>>

Um, I think he just said it was stupid.

I don't recall Rush ever trying to pass any laws preventing Liberals from being stupid. Just the opposite actually.

Shanna said...

I do agree the music was ridiculous. It would have been more fun with jaunty, road trip sounds. Like Milo and Otis but with a bear!

chuckR said...

A car is just a tool for most folks for most occasions. There are probably enough people - with short commutes in nice weather - for whom this would work.

Let's see how the buff mags do in trying to break it. Someday there will be a first viable electric car. This may be it. It won't be for everybody - but paraphrasing Bob Lutz (IIRC) - better to have a car 20% love and 80% hate than one that 100% can't remember.

But I still ain't buying until my current 30mpg beater car gives up the ghost.

Shanna said...

At least the black bears that seem to be around wherever I spend much time have some worries, some times, about humans.

Or cats!

Cat chases bear up a tree

Fred4Pres said...

Let's play.

Dan Gerous said...

What a perfect metaphor for Islam.

F said...

Bruce Hayden:

Who was it that was called to dispatch the bear near you? I know an apex predator who currently lives on Pennyslvania Ave in the District of Columbia, and who refuses to stop predating humans. F

Methadras said...

Pogo said...

When your Nissan Leaf runs out of power on the highway in the middle of winter in Minneapolis, you can cut the polar bear open and crawl inside and save yourself.

Joseph Conrad taught me that.

Later, you can make a coat outta the fur, as a souvenir. And the feet would make some really cool slippers.


Han Solo did the same thing for Luke Skywalker and shoved him into his eviscerated Ton-Ton.

Kirk Parker said...

Pogo,

Tastes kinda fishy. Ummmm, I mean sealy.

garage mahal said...

I don't recall Rush ever trying to pass any laws preventing Liberals from being stupid. Just the opposite actually.

Who is trying to pass laws that you have to buy a Leaf? Or watch this commercial. It such a painfully fucking stupid argument anyways we keep hearing [not yours] this stupid red herring that Polar bears are mean so they deserve to be stranded [if there even is global warming!]. Or it's snowing in Copenhagen [it can't be THAT bad!]. Algore is fat.

Pretty much Methadras perfectly encapsulated.

Charlie Martin said...

Evolution in action.

Anonymous said...

I say: Fuck that bear.

That bear has a choice. It can go on eating baby seals, or it can fucking evolve.

It's up to the bear.

Just like it was up to that pussy - Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Evolve or die. That's the fucking law. I didn't write it. You didn't write it. That's Just. The. Way. It. Is.

Stop eating seals and start eating humans. That's the message I'd take to the polar bears.

But stop. fucking. whining.

You're a bear for christ's sake.

There's no crying in bear.

Anonymous said...

The look in that tool's eyes when his initial fear turns to joy at the polar bear's embrace could tell you a lot about environmentalists...or not.

We need to "listen" to nature, not the other way round. It is not to be controlled, or conquered...that is an old Christian notion that we need to throw away. We can change and/or harm our fragile ecosystem (with which I agree) and we need to find "balance".

A potential preponderance of evidence tells the environmentalist all he needs to know...after that it's time (climate change legislation, getting out the green gospel) to put it in action.

Anonymous said...

There's a bear in the city.

For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don't see it at all. Some people think the bear is tame. Others know it's vicious and dangerous.

Since no one can really be sure who is right, isn't it right to be as strong as the bear?

If there is a bear?

pst314 said...

I see that garage is in fine form today. First he claims that Rush's criticism of the ad is 'telling us what we can and can't do", and then when confronted he resorts to accusing us all of hating on those poor polar bears. What a maroon.

Skyler said...

I like Limbaugh, but he's forgetting that this is supposed to be humor. Just because he doesn't agree with the political message in the ad doesn't mean that it's supposed to be taken seriously.

Clyde said...

I feel about this stupid commercial the same way that I felt about that Audi Super Bowl commercial with the Green Police, where at the end, the quisling driving the Audi "clean diesel" car was "good to go" while all of the other shlubs in their regular cars were held up by the green nazis. And now this stupid polar bear trope. Bah! Make him into a rug!

Peter Hoh said...

But, if conditions are right, you can use a Q-Tip to clean out a polar bear's nose.