The bows mentioned upthread are pretty chintzy compared to the ones from the commercials. I don’t know about every Lexus dealer, but I know of at least one which offers a big red “December To Remember” bow as part of the sales event that goes on every year through the end of December. McGrath Lexus of Chicago, being essentially “the” Lexus dealer of Chicago, is probably one of the more prestigious Lexus dealers in the country and I know they have the red bows, though whether or not they’re the same ornate “ribbon” style bows from the Lexus commercials, I couldn’t say because I’ve never seen one. Hopefully they’re not like the $25 jobs linked to up above … those things look like they got pulled off the side of a parade float from some trailer trash podunk high school homecoming celebration. As far as colors go, it’d literally be like putting ketchup on a steak, assuming you had a … steak-colored Lexus.
Here is a question:
Do you suppose Lexus is trying to pull the same stunt DeBeers did back in the 1900’s?
Seventy years ago this thread would have been pondering whether men really gave diamond rings to their women as engagement presents. For that matter, aren’t male wedding rings a fairly recent addition to the average Joe’s life?
Maybe it will become a standard gift idea someday. Another case of people with more money than sense.
Well, Spit, from what I read in this thread, the idea doesn’t seem to be catching on very well.
Maybe they’re trying to kill of the competition and corner the market on high quality car-sized red ribbons?
I dunno man. I would wager there were a few “You spent how much? On a RING?!? What about a HOUSE???”, conversations back in the day.
I’m buying stock in Lexus.
The Lexus for Festivus sales event begins now.
Take a poll, ask what women want most - a car or a diamond.
You might be on to something. However, DeBeers controlled/controls almost all the diamond mining, so if you want a diamond, you pretty much have to go to them. There aren’t many substitutes for a DeBeers diamond. There are plenty of substitutes for a Lexus, though–a BMW, Mercedes, Caddy, etc. So they have a little farther to go than DeBeers. They have to convince people to buy not only an expensive car, but a specific kind of expensive car. Still, if they invested enough in marketing, they might be able to pull that off.
**More insight into Philster’s neighbor and his wife, and I will tie this back to the OP, hang in there:
I think he is so happy that his wife washes his clothes and irons his shirts that he will put up with anything ('I demand a Lexus SUV. I demand a Mercedes). There is a whole generation of men who have no balls, and we all know who they are. He is one of them. It results in a Lexus on Christmas, and it wasn’t that he wanted it or needed it, it is that his bitch wife demanded it.
So, anyway, my neighbors were trying to conceive via the guidance of a fertility specialist. Round one was to have sex at certain times, almost ‘on demand’ if certain numbers were right for fertility. This could mean two people drop what they are doing and try to make a baby.
So, my neighbor has problems ‘performing’ on demand - or getting the equipment ready to perform is more like it. So I said to my neighbor, “Well, doesn’t your wife have a sexy outfit or something that gets you excited, or maybe you can watch a video together, or create some other type of fantasy?”
He told me that his wife wouldn’t do anything with the lights on, would never get on top because she’d feel like a whore and he has never seen her in anything sexy.
My wife and I used to joke that they weren’t getting pregnant because they weren’t having sex.
Two very average looking people or just below average – she has absolutely no sex appeal to speak of, but keeps a clean house. He makes over 200k/year; she doesn’t work. Does he cheat? Nope. Could he? I suppose. What bargaining power does she have? She takes care of his home and she knows he’d never want his son to grow up with a broken home. So, now she wants a Mercedes. This is how it works.
When I see those Lexus commercials, I don’t care what I see on their smiling faces; in real life, Lawd only knows what the hell is going on in those homes. Here is a Lexus! Yay! If it really is just a gift from someone with a lot of extra cash, that’s great, but I’ve seen people buy a Lexus for a gift so that maybe – just maybe – in addition to the clean house and ironed shirts, maybe sometime in the near future someone can have missionary position sex with the lights off.
True, they may not have the market cornered, but they are getting their name out in the front should other manufacturers pick up on their lead. What is good for the industry as a whole will be good for Lexus in the end.
Look at how much we spend on presents at this time of year! My Grandparents never had the sheer amount of stuff that the average person receives during the holidays. In addition, gift giving is such a mandate at this point (An example being the gift card craze- The point of the gift is the thought behind the item), that I can see a time where spending that much for one present would not be out of the realm of possibilty. I for one welcome our coming economic prosperity. Maybe just not the “selling our soul” part
Maybe a similar process is at work in the trend of ever-more-ridiculous weddings. In order to show your love for your child (if the parents pay) or SO, you have to spend like the Corleones. Multiple tens of thousands on a wedding is becoming more common, so maybe the mandatory car-as-a-gift isn’t far behind. This is beginning to frighten me.
I’d much rather have a sapphire than a diamond, actually. And I can’t imagine why people spend more than a few hundred dollars on engagement or wedding rings. I would be seriously pissed if I got a $10,000 ring, unless it was a family heirloom or something, and even then I’d be terrified to ever wear it.
I guess when it comes to big purchases I’m a bit cheap, but I just don’t get it.
A couple years ago I posted a question asking whether women would prefer a diamond or a high quality Cubic zirconia ring plus a two week cruise to the Bahamas (I think it was). Take a wild guess what the overwhelming answer was.
So, I’m with you on the “don’t get it”.
Wow, Philster, that has to be the second most miserable thing I’ve read on the Dope in recent memory, right on the heels of “do you hate your children”. That man’s life sounds like a bad combo of Groundhog Day and American Beauty-except for the part about being married to a babe like Annette Benning.
The ONLY way it could work in my house is if we had discussed what our next car purchase would be, planned that we’d be able to buy it in the spring and one of us got a fabulous bonus and could purchase the car early.
We’re both going to be driving it and paying for it. We should both be in on choosing it.
I haven’t read Mangeorge’s thread, but I’d take the CZ and a really kick ass washer and dryer. I like there to be tangible evidence of major expenditures. A cruise would be nice, but what are you really left with…
I don’t like diamonds, or really any jewelry, for that matter. And since I have a car that I like just fine, I don’t need another of those either.
But if anyone wants to buy me a slab roller for my studio, that would make me happy.
I’d rather have a digital slr and all the lenses and filters…ooh, and a really good commercial-style printer.
This was for new lovers. Engagement/wedding etc.
Honeymoon memories and all that. Look what they spend on weddings! And it’s all for a photo album.
CZ’s are actually prettier than diamonds.
First of all, I would be happy to accept a new Kawasaki Vulcan 1300 in my driveway for Christmas. Or for the New Year. Or as a really early birthday present. Any occasion, honestly. I don’t need the bow, either. You don’t even need to be married to me. 
And they cost considerably less than a new Lexus, FYI!
And you know, I consider myself fortunate every day for having found Jakeline, but I think that appreciation just grew ten-fold after reading about Philster’s neighbor. That whole thing makes me a bit sick to my stomach.
Asketh gwendee, “A cruise would be nice, but what are you really left with…”
My brother and SIL have my nephew to show for their cruise…
That’s what I was clumsily talking about! 
They didn’t name the kid “Princess”, I hope.
I don’t normally advocate violence against females because my wife and daughters are the most important people in my life but damn, some stories make you question your values as it relates to others.
I have heard stories similar to this except for the “fugly” and terrible in bed part. That is inexcusable for both of them unless he has a fugly bitch fetish. Does he whack off to pictures of Kathy Bates in between quarterly amorous escapades with his wife?
What do you tell your fugly wife when she demands an expensive car for Christmas?
Nothing. Just look at her black eyes. You done told the bitch twice