SHAME on Subaru!!!!

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
With all the well-deserved and very valid talk about avoiding trails during the spring thaw...did anyone catch the back-page full-page advert by Subaru in the latest issue of Mountain Bike? (April) It's a picture of the tail end of a mud-splattered Subaru, with a rider's mud-caked legs hanging off the back,a muddy rear bike tire in the foreground, with a god-AWFUL muddy road/trail in the background, and a tag line that reads (I'm not making this up)

"Cars and bikes united by a mutual love of mud."

WTH????? THIS, from a company that sponsors the Trail Care Crew???? Adding insult to injury, they even include the IMBA logo in the ad? Unbelievable!!!!
 

dhsean

Member
Welcome to the wonderful world of marketing genius's. I deal with these idiots everyday being a graphic designer. Nobody has a clue what they hell they are talking about.
 

gtluke

The Moped
Subaru died to me when GM gave up their 25% to toyota. GM never fucked with the way subaru made cars. Toyota is. In a matter of 3 years the Subaru's are almost as soulless as a Toyota.
ALL the cool Subaru body lines are gone. The window frameless doors are gone. The rally suspension is gone in favor of trunk space :yawn:, and they sell now completely ordinary silver cars to your mom.
It's a damn shame. With Subuaru sold out, and Mitsubishi all but out of business ther aren't any cool jap cars left.
Now all you can buy is an overweight underpowered honda, a soul-less toyota, or a remarkably uninspired nissan. Mazda has been relegated to the overprice youth market division of Ford. Well, after the rx8 dud the only real mazda left is the miata.
 

brybry57

Member
i am unsure why this is a bad ad ?
is it because the trail huggers out there would not dar ride in mud ?
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I'm starting to rethink who's going to play Walter in the made-for-tv movie. Luke may be giving Jake a run for his money.

Subaru's mission is to make money. Advertising is one means of trying to do that.

Anyway...

:worthless
 

gtluke

The Moped
Did you order a stick shift? The auto's have 90:10 "reactive" awd, which is poop in comparison to the 50:50 real awd that the stick shifts have.
 

Zaskar

Well-Known Member
Soul?
 

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UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
With all the well-deserved and very valid talk about avoiding trails during the spring thaw...did anyone catch the back-page full-page advert by Subaru in the latest issue of Mountain Bike? (April) It's a picture of the tail end of a mud-splattered Subaru, with a rider's mud-caked legs hanging off the back,a muddy rear bike tire in the foreground, with a god-AWFUL muddy road/trail in the background, and a tag line that reads (I'm not making this up)

"Cars and bikes united by a mutual love of mud."

WTH????? THIS, from a company that sponsors the Trail Care Crew???? Adding insult to injury, they even include the IMBA logo in the ad? Unbelievable!!!!

Maybe they just based the ad off of one of the countless h2h mud races last year. That be the case, no problem.
 

tonyride

Don't piss off the red guy
It's just an ad. Check out some ads from other car manufacturers and then re-evaluate the Subaru ad again.
 

Glancing Aft

Active Member
Subaru died to me when GM gave up their 25% to toyota. GM never fucked with the way subaru made cars. Toyota is. In a matter of 3 years the Subaru's are almost as soulless as a Toyota.
ALL the cool Subaru body lines are gone. The window frameless doors are gone. The rally suspension is gone in favor of trunk space :yawn:, and they sell now completely ordinary silver cars to your mom.

There still is some hope for the company, although a small hope at that...
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/25/reader-spy-is-that-you-toyobaru/

but in their defense, sales are wayyyyy up... While almost every other car company other than the Koreans have been way down this year...
 
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RNG1

Well-Known Member
I had a Subaru like 25 years ago and I guess it did have soul based on that it actually had a button you could press that would move the emblem on the front grill to reveal a "third eye" headlight. Of course we all know that the third eye is the eye of the soul. Adding to that is the definition of Subaru which means "Pleides"(might be spelled wrong) which of course we all know that is a planet system in another galaxy containing the aliens which some believe is how the eastern races on our planet were formed.

I did see that ad BTW and in their defense I suppose their planet could be covered in mud all the time thus explaining the insensitivity to the bike culture we try and promote.
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
Yes, Subaru's aim is to make money, but same is true for Specialized, Shimano, CLIF, etc and other companies. Like Subaru, these companies are corporate sponsors of IMBA and promote sustainable trails, so Subaru's add is at best ironic, at worst hypocritical. Though we all have ridden in mud at one time or another, it's typically because it's come upon us in a mid-ride thunderstorm or similar unavoidable event, not as a conscious "love of mud" as Subaru puts it.

While it may be just an ad, these ads subconsciously validate (for those that are less aware of proper trail etiquette and the work that goes into maintaining them, unlike many here at MTBNJ) muddy riding (and driving) as an acceptable activity. This, ultimately, hurts our collective cause for trail access. Sure, sports drink and other car companies also feature less than desirable images of our sport, but I expected more from a company like Subaru that actually sets aside some of its annual budget to support trail maintenance. Surely you can see the irony. Call me a jaded trail hugger ;)

I'm with Luke though on the wayward direction Subaru has taken, at least style-wise. I've owned a few in the past (late 90's Legacy Wagon and Outback). and loved them (albeit a bit underpowered). The new styling, though? ugh.

As for pics, I presume many folks on his forum subscribe to the rag, so it should be showing up on their doorstep any day now. For those that don't, when I have a moment I'll get a round tuit. The square ones aren't cutting it.:D
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
if nothing else luke just pushed me away from owning a subie. maybe ever.

one could make the exact same claims about jeep. they are proud sponsors of "tread lightly" yet show people hauling around fragile mountain tops tearing things up. wha-what?!

the thing is, national tv is, for the most part, directed at people in the fly over states that can't be reached with anything other than advertising on the sides of cows. so, while the trendy, "enlightened" folks in NY, LA and CHI cry about logo placement and scream foul, some guy in ohio just bought a subaru, a new columbia mtb and a bell helmet.

edit: in my stupor i missed that this was a print ad AND in an mtb mag. with a circulation approaching about 15, no one of any value will see it so whateva.
 
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