YSaC, Vol. 618: Can I get a fist pump for America?
1997 Toyota 4Runner SR5 – Green – 205,869mi – $5,977
- Price: $5,977
- Mileage: 205,869
- Color: Green
- Interior: Tan
- Engine: 3.4L V6 engine
- Transmission: Automatic
- [blah, blah, blah … a bunch of other stuff … too much to list]
Let me zoom in on part of that picture for you:
Yup, that’s right. “Be American Buy American” … on an ad for a Toyota 4-Runner, which (as far as I can tell) may be assembled in the US, but the parts are all made in Japan, by a Japanese company. Which obviously makes it American. So Be American Buy American! The lack of punctuation is our gift to our fellow Americans.
Thanks, Nicole!
[Edited to add: Hi, drmk here. I did a short email interview with a website a week or so ago, and they’ve posted the interview online here. If you want to know more* about drmk and Dan, that’s the place to go. And while you’re there, please click on the little rating gizmo on the top left — it appears as though the highest ranked interviews win something. Ooooh, I hope it’s a Not.A.Lion!
* “More” is a relative term.]
Looks to me like he’s a guy you wouldn’t want to argue the nationality of an automobile with…
He would just call up his buddies and go annex Japan as the 51st state, BOORAH!!!
That crew cut alone could make Godzilla flee in terror.
Or laugh until atomic fire came out his nose.
Irony. Our greatest export. These colors don’t run. (Most of the stickers I’ve seen with that motto have faded)
I’ve seen a bumper sticker here in Vermontland (I think) that reads, “These colors don’t run the world.”
That would explain why most Americans have no idea what irony means. Too bad we didn’t export any to Canada for Alanis.
I know what irony is! It’s like goldy and bronzey, but made of iron. Right?
Don’t be silly, irony is the opposite of wrinkly! (And yes, I do have that shirt. I got it in a pack of randoms from Shirt Woot.)
hypothesis – anything you’re buying used from an American is an American product, regardless of its country of origin.
This theory works conversely, for other countries. For example, if a baseball fanatic from Japan were to come to the USA for vacation or a work trip and buy a couple seats from the old Yankee stadium, said baseball fanatic could return home and offer one of the seats to a countryman, labeling said seat as a Japanese product.
I think he just left out a couple words. It should read Be American Buy From An American.
I have to agree with you, Windrose. This is no different from those motel signs reading “American owned and operated” : a sorry attempt to steer business your way by appealing to prejudice.
If he’d had room, I’m sure he’d have written “See my thick, I-played-linebacker-at-the-local-junior-college neck? See my faux-Marine haircut? I have three of the whitest kids you’ve ever seen. And you can bet I speak good-ol-boy, too. No Pakistani or Hispanic accents here! Buy Amurrican!”
All that from just his picture? Wow!
There’s a “Terror-free Oil” gas station in Omaha, NE. Never mind that the US isn’t buying oil from countries known to be connected with terrorism anyway.
I can’t say I like your hypothesis, Yancy, because of what the word product means: something that has been produced. It makes sense to label this an American transaction, and the sale will no doubt benefit the local economy and not Toyota. That far, I agree with your sentiment.
But describing this truck as an American product would be like calling the Elgin Marbles a group of British sculptures because they’re in Britain, or saying that your copy of Don Quixote is an American novel because you bought it at Borders.
+1 for “Pedanticles” name change. (Logic of argument, too, though I think Yancy may be on to something w/r/t explaining the guy’s definition of “American.”)
Hey those Elgin marbles ARE British – we’re looking after them for others where we went excavating and conquering and creating commonwealths and empires and all the maps were coloured pink and …… *time for my daily pint of Merlot*
They were no Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, but the Elgin Marbles are still one of my favorite British Invasion groups.
I hope they reunite and come by the 40 Watt someday.
I bought a Toyota truck a few years ago and I seem to remember the dealer telling me my truck was assembled in Canada…..
You’ve missed the point. There are 7,000 American dollars hidden under the carpeting.
There’s always money in the Toyota.
It’s all just a lack-of-puncutation problem. I’m sure what he meant was:
BE AMERICAN: BUY, AMERICAN!
What could be more “American” in this age than to purchase, whether you have the means or not? Isn’t buying stuff the American dream?
I’d agree with you, Isaac, but I have to go pay my credit card bill.
That’s it, I’m reporting you to the Unamerican Activities Committee! Real Americans never let something like paying their credit card bill get in the way of conspicuous consumption.
Hey, I didn’t say I was paying it all off!
What about:
1. Be
2. American
3. Buy, American!
4. ?
5. Profit!
It’s a typo. He’s looking for a date, and he’s picky about nationality but not gender.
Be American, bi-american.
$6,000 for a 13 year old 4Runner with 200,000 miles? Really? Here in Chicago we at least do you the courtesy of turning the odometer back to 85K or so.
[corey]In Chicago or any place north I would expect to see a 13 year old car covered in rust and being sold for parts. Here in the south it’s not uncommon to see older cars with higher prices because the frames don’t rust out as quick. If I’m not mistaken, that’s an Atlanta area code.[/corey]
Granted, the minty-ness of the shell and cost are the least of this ad’s issues.
You don’t even get any bees with it!
*crosses self, says Hail DRMK’s*
Sweet mother o’ YSaC, how couldya wish such a thing upon a soul?
Speaking of bees, did everyone see this news story?
http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12191578” rel=”nofollow”
Bees be upon you.
I seem to be having link problems. Try http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12191578
Was it a ….sting operation? *crickets*
Maybe she has Sting cd’s?
Maybe all of our thoughts and prayers are good for something! Now let us focus our energies upon my ex-boyfriend’s house!
And, why didn’t they try a vacuum? That’s how our local beekeepers have had to do it when they get excited about the old ice-cream in the Dairy Queen dumpsters.
Camille: there are medications available that can help with your link problems. Talk to your doctor. (long list of side effects and legal disclaimers read twice as fast and half as loud)
HHNF: argh!
Kelly BB, for Altanta, GA, says only about $3K
See, that’s what I was focused on. There’s no way I’ll pay six grand for a vehicle with nearly one quarter MILLION miles on it. I was once able to buy a Caprice with 89,000 miles on it for half as much. :-\
Silly haircut and punctuation problems notwithstanding, the biggest problem with the ad is that its a crappy offer.
I thought that we weren’t supposed to be buying Americans. Isn’t that only legal in Nevada?
I think that even in Nevada you can only rent
usthem.But we all know you can’t own a Canadian.
Well why can’t I?!
Actually, it’s my understanding that most Toyota cars are now assembled in the U.S., and many of their parts are also produced here. Many parts for American cars are made in Mexico and shipped up here, so the “Buy American” slogan is hardly accurate anymore.
There are websites where you can look at where the parts for your cars are produced. Many so-called “American” cars aren’t any more “American” than foreign cars.
Excellent corey.
This is precisely why I looked this particular model up, and found that (as I mentioned) the car may be assembled in the US, but the majority of the parts are made in Japan.
I won’t stand by the complete accuracy of my research, since it was the internet and all, and I don’t actually care — but given that Toyota is relatively inarguably a Japanese company, the “Buy American” slogan doesn’t quite fit here.
According to Wikipedia, this 4Runner has either been assembled in Tahara or Hamura, which are both in Japan. Now i know Wikipedia isn’t always the safest bet, so i would like to check that back on the website you talked about. Can you post a link please?
On a sitenote, you mentioned that the Japanese get many of their cars produced in the US – as well as BMW’s & Mercedes’ big SUVs – because the majority is sold there, so it’s cheaper and doesn’t cost so much diesel for the ships carrying all the cars across the oceans. Funfact is that when I, as a german, would buy such a german SUV in the US and then ship it to Germany, thanks to your weak dollar, there’s a good chance it’s cheaper than buying it at a german dealership…
HA- one of my ads is a Google search on the Toyota recall. Is it wrong that I find that amusing? Not in a “buy American” sort of way, just appreciate the irony.
Ah, but minna-san, only Americans truly enjoy gas-guzzlers like that. You silly bakas.
At least it isn’t neko-math!
Silva, +elebenty internets for name change to “RatWithAnUnblubler.” I nearly laughed myself into incontinence.
I’ve gotten so used to people’s icons that I don’t even look at the names anymore. So when you wrote that and I looked up there, I laughed so hard Crystal Lite came out my nose. Bright red Crystal Lite. It stained my nose.
“Bus stop wet day, she’s there I say, ‘Please share my untublubler…”
Hehehe
*passes a tissue to you*
{corey-sama} “silly baka” is redundant in Nihongo, unless you mean to compound being bakani who is also oroko, or in the sense of bongo baka.
Given our present theme, baka gaijin would have been far more apt, or, for extra bonus points, baka beikokujin.
{/corey-sama}
s,
ChuSa Beikokujin Buotoko
Oh, I know it’s redundant. I was throwing around random Japanese like teenagers do on the art sites and other forums I go to. As a joke. (I get a kick out of how they will proudly call themselves otaku, not really grasping the fact that they’re insulting themselves).
Bwahahahaha!
baka koukouji are the same everywhere.
It’s only fair. Apparently it’s very trendy in Japan to put random English words-ANY English words-on items. It makes them cool. And it makes for some puzzling products for native speakers.
I’ve been to Engrish.com before, I’ve noticed 😉
I really hope there’s a corresponding site in Japan or China, where they laugh at the tattoos and such that Americans get and may not know what they really say.
Baka tends to be my favorite safe swear because most folks aroud here just think I’m spouting Klingon or random nonsense. I did once work with a half Japanese woman from Mexico who told me that the way I would yell at my computer worked in both Japanese and Spanish (apparently a similar sounding word means cow).
Neko-math Fun Time should totally be a children’s educational cartoon.
RatWithAnUnblubler: something like this, maybe?
http://www.hanzismatter.com/
Wow, think of it and there is a site for it on the internet. Thanks for the link.
Ooh, I just noticed that Lola, TacoMagic, and I made the you don’t suck box. Time for a group punch?
With my mood, I could easily group punch the lot of you. Well, probably not you guys, actually…I like you guys.
This picture comes to mind when I hear the term “group punch.”
Makes me think of Jonestown. Is that wrong?
Falcooon Puunch!
It’s my second group punch this week (thanks, guys!). My black eye from the last one is nearly gone! Windrose has an impressively large puncher for the group ones, I must say.
Group punches are starting to be a way of life around here. Uh, better do it in the main room until I get the carpet replaced in the office. Jackie, Punch! Lola, Punchity! TacoMagic SexyFingers! Punch!
Why am I imagining that you own an ornate pair if brass knuckles with W-I-N-D embossed on one and R-O-S-E on the other, so when the punchee looks in the mirror they are reminded of exactly who delivered the one two?
That. Is. Awesome.
*checks catalogs for brass knuckles, embossed*
The problem is that you guys feed off of each other too well! There’s always a Hegelian trinity.
That’s us: we proactively leverage our synergies to enhance our core values.
… or something like that. I’ve been taking management courses in my spare time. (OK, really I’ve just been reading Dilbert in the bathroom. It’s almost the same thing.)
Hegelian Trinity- my favorite Elgin Marbles album!
Hegel is entirely too complicated for me. His ideas and philosophies make my brain hurt.
Wait, I’m still digesting this through my auto-sales translator*, and I keep getting:
Be (pres.perf. ‘to be’) American by American
Or, to simplify:
be American² (!!11!! implied, perhaps?)
And given that we Americanos del norte are more northern, central, and southern, it would appear that car sales math remains baka neko keishiki.
Oh, peck it, maybe the ride has draws–but the prospect that they have been unblubled is just too great, and I would not be able to be deplomate at that point.
[corey]But, it’s an irritating day today; coffee and pecan rolls were corrective, but not enough, I fear. I may have to follow H.j.’s example and skip the lime I do not have for distillates I do. harumph.[/corey]
*Requisite when one is related to people in the dealer “biz”
I’m just loving the classic “too much to list” while sipping my tea and waiting for the thudding in my head to subside
OK, class, please conjugate the following:
Be American Buy American
a) Boy American
b) Boo American
c) Bay American
d) Boy George
e) Boo Radley
f) Bay Rum
g) Bea Arthur
h) Bo Knows
i) Bah Humbug
j) Be Kind, Rewind
k) B. Monkey
l) don’t worry, be happy
m) oh behave!
n) why can’t I be you?
His haircut screams to me, ‘I’ve never been in the Marines, but I still think I’m awesome, and it’s good for business!’
I am killing prices like a sniper, and completely PT’ing the competition to death!
From the halls of DA chassis to the shores of minty,
We will fight our country’s battles in the car, on lot and SUV,
First to fight for a 4runner that’s green,
And to keep our Toyota clean,
We are proud to pretend like we were once United States Marines
Best Montezuma rendition I’ve heard, yet. I expect you outside my window with a trench coat and a ghetto blaster at midnight.
PT is a little too far of a drive just to annoy you, but testing the “hell hath no fury” idea would be amusing.
I’d drop a pot of flowers on you.
This site has rather magical curative powers, which bind in ever-more wondrous ways; in wit, in snark, in comraderie.
So, I am stifling urges here. Lessee, things like I know some folks near HHNF, folks who like being loud and in unison. (And first name I thought of is a fan od both SA and TPB.) Shoot, they might enjoy the challenge of flung flower pottery.
But, I’ll demure; e’en as “refrain” is ever so inviting. That, and streaming the resultant video just would not be the same.
That’s why I would wear my helmet. I am immune to your flower pot droppage. Unless of course, it was a large fake ficus or something.
CapnMac: you may demur, but you are anything but demure.
I just discovered this site last night, and spent an embarrassing amount of time reading, alternating between howling with laughter and recoiling in horror. (I made myself stop after page 15 of the archives and a couple of the tag pages; the spelling on some of the ads was starting to make sense, and that scared me.)
Having read the interview today where drmk says she is “trying to get the lurkers to participate on the blog,” I figured I should delurk for a moment or two and get the “saying hello” part out of the way. That way if I ever come up with anything worthwhile to contribute, the introduction bit won’t slow me down.
welcome eeee,
it’s always nice when someone de-lurks and joins in the fun. As a new reader I’d like to give you a piece of advice, and that’s to never ever read while eating or drinking, or if you must, always keep a cloth handy to clean up to splatters on your screen afterwards.
It’s lesson I still haven’t learned myself though to be honest, and my desk is regularly covered in coffee splashes, or crumbs of some variety.
Also, learn how to self-administer the Heimlich maneuver.
Second the welcome! We love those who delurk and join in commenting. Please continue!
Yay! Welcome eeee! Thanks for de-lurking, and I’m so glad you enjoy the site! I hope you’ll continue to read and comment — and to consider submitting any ads you might find YSaC-worthy!
Welcome, eeee, if that is your real name. 8) Let us know if you need any translations on cat math, corey, or any other memes that crop up over and over. Also check out the forums, let us know when your birthday is, etc. (Reminds me, I’ve been remiss in checking the birthday list!)
Well, it’s what my real name STARTS with. It’s what I usually wind up saying if someone asks me name, and I’m caught off guard and start to answer before I realize I don’t want (or need) to tell them. As in, “Eeeeeeeeeya know what, I have to go make some toast, bye.”
I tracked down Corey and cat math (and I must reluctantly admit that my own innate Coreyism is going to show itself, I just KNOW it will), but there appear to be enough inside jokes here to keep me happily deciphering for a long time. I promise to ask for help if I get too stumped, though – thanks! (c:
Thanks for the welcome, all.
I wouldn’t worry to much about getting stumped eeee, I’ve been here a while and I still get stumped sometimes.
Me too!
Am I the only one wondering why anyone would spend 6 grand on a car with 200,000 miles on it?
No, you most definitely are not the only one.
Especially when it is ever so easy to look up used car values online (and, presuming that CL readers might be online, and said Sparkies comprehend that fact) which then suggests that auto-biz folk must be begetting the people placing bad CL ads.
But, I’m still cranky, and in a bad mood, so I’m not feeling a surplus of sympathy to share out and oil the troubled waters.
To buy American is priceless. $6k is worth every star, spangled penny.
He’s slapping his slogan (and image) on a few other un-American cars as well.
From the site:
“Not actual photos. Color and options may vary”
So if the pictures of the vehicles are not actual photos then what are they? Photo realistic paintings? Digital renderings? Life-like liverwurst sculptures?
If they’re really American, sculpting in hydrogenated fats might be appropriate …
It’s probably like when sellers “borrow” the manufacturer’s product photo for the item they’re selling and stick it in their ad. Yes, it’s a photo of the same type of item as the one they’re selling, but it’s not a photo of the item they have. Always be wary of people who don’t include a photo of the actual item they are offering. At best, it means they’re too stupid and/or lazy to operate a digital camera.
I know this is a total tangent, but I followed that link and for some bizarre reason (cuz I’m eating tuna salad on garden herb Triscuts?) I wanted to know more about him… “him” being the guy in the photos who I am guessing is not actually our Sparky. Wikipedia says this about Ed Voyles:
In 2005, Hyundai authorized Ed Voyles’ Hyundai dealership in Smyrna, Georgia to become the first “deaf friendly” dealership in the entire world. The staff in this dealership are able to accommodate deaf customers with the use of American Sign Language and video conferencing phones.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Motor_Company)
As an ASL/English interpreter with deaf cousins, I’m now LOVING this man. I know, it’s selfish and self-serving, but this guy just pushed my fist-pumping button. 🙂
Be a Lego man. Buy a Lego car.
Dang. I knew I was a patriotic American for buying a Honda. This makes me want to put an American flag bumper sticker on my car just to further prove my awesome patriot nature. Or not.
I totally used to tell the people who gave me crap that I “bought American” because I bought my Honda from my mom. Not one of the people who was being a jerk about me driving a Honda had the ‘nads to pick on my mama.
To be fair, his dealership is a Chrysler/Jeep dealership so he does sell American cars. This is from the used inventory, obvs.
I can’t believe I’m about to defend a YSaC ad, but:
This is similar to an argument I had once with a co-worker for whom I was trying to book a car rental. She absolutely refused to drive any car that wasn’t “American”. She went on and on about supporting American workers and so on.
Never mind the fact that we rent from You Will Drive What We Give You and You Will Like It Auto Rentals, and I couldn’t pick a specific make anyway; I felt her argument that American-Owned brands = Supporting American workers was fundamentally flawed. I wholeheartedly support this concept, but we are only a few miles from an auto manufacturing plant chock-full of American workers. What do they make? Toyotas! Meanwhile I drive a Chrysler that, as near as I can tell, was manufactured in Canada.
I really wanted to tell her that I’d get her a Ford if she would go to that Toyota plant and tell the workers they weren’t American enough for her.
Point is, buying from any auto dealer in America still supports Americans. Whether buying from a CL ad does that is another matter entirely.
When I bought my Honda, the window sticker said that although the transmission was made in Japan, the majority of the rest of the car was made in USA. This is more than what Ford and GM can say since their vehicles are mostly made and assembled in Canada and Mexico.
As for “these colors don’t run the rest of the world”, better us than Iranians, Saudis, Syrians, Russians, Cubans, Venezuelans, and North Koreans. (I’d have added Chinese, but they already run a significant portion of the world.)