# A New Car For Christmas??? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 9, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963 "2005-12-09T22:53:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/21 "2005-12-10T14:23:01Z")
Granted that I haven’t seen the ads because I’m in the wrong country, but I think you’ve missed the point of the ads: they’re almost certainly not being broadcast to get those precious few executives to buy a car for Christmas, though that would be a happy coincidence, but to raise brand awareness and image. Just think how about much the TV ads cost and how many cars would need to sell just to cover that. **See, you’re talking about it now, aren’t you?** Do we have any advertising guys in the house? They’ll undoubtedly explain it better than I have. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/22 "2005-12-10T16:19:46Z")
Yeah, but I’d still never buy a Lexus. Or any luxury car. And I’d never take any car as a prize unless I could get the cash equivalent instead because then I’d have to sell it, taking a loss, so that I could get some capital I could work with, even if I decided to then buy a different car. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/23 "2005-12-11T00:28:11Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Why are you assuming that “buy for Christmas” necessarily means “buy and keep secret fron recepient until Christmas day”? Is it unthinkable in American culture to say “honey, I’ll get you a car for Christmas, let’s go out and choose one”? > > Anyway, at any time of year there is a small but non-negligible number of people in the market for a new car. If they decide to buy it this month, they’ll think of it as a Christmas purchase. It makes perfect sense to advertise them as such. Even if you buy one yourself, you may well think of it as a Christmas present to yourself. Bingo. We did this last year. I needed a new car, so I got one “for Christmas.” Of course, it also served as a gift for my birthday… which is in March. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/24 "2005-12-11T00:43:13Z")
Sure, I roll my eyes at those ads, because even if I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t buy my husband a car for Christmas. But from a marketing perspective, they’re brilliant. All car dealers must suffer abominably slow sales during the winter. Even if they sell just a handful as presents, that’s got to make a huge difference for their sales goals in December. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/25 "2005-12-11T07:17:58Z")
My mother bought a truck for my stepfather a couple of years ago for his birthday (I think–might have been Christmas). His old truck was on its last few miles, and he’d already picked out the one he wanted to replace it with. My mom still borrowed it from the dealer to give to him before signing the papers, just in case. (No giant bow, unfortunately.) And my dad bought me a cell phone with service (and severe warnings about not going over the contract minutes) for Christmas and/or my birthday when I was in college. He said it was the only way he could ever talk to me. Actually, he did it again for me as an adult, at a time when I wouldn’t have bought cell phone service for myself. It was a very nice present. Both my parents make good money, but neither is a millionaire or prodigal with money, so I’d guess a fair number of people are potential targets for the ads. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/26 "2005-12-11T08:36:36Z")
My dad gets my mom a new car for Christmas about every 3 years. I’m not sure if he’s ever got her a Lexus, but he got her a Caddy a few years ago. (Big mistake - tiny woman with an attitude in a big, big car. It was a bad scene.) ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/27 "2005-12-11T10:52:11Z")
Two words: Christmas bonus. Yes, there really are people who get a Christmas bonus that can pay for a new car. I am not one of them, but in the law firm I worked for, you would be amazed at the number of attorneys who bought new cars with their bonus checks. Of course, they bought new cars as often as I buy bread, so it wasn’t a big deal to them. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/28 "2005-12-11T14:09:01Z")
An uncle of mine once bought a new car for his wife for Christmas. Then proceeded to make her drive the old car & he drove the brand new one. He was such a tool. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963/29 "2005-12-11T15:17:41Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Granted that I haven’t seen the ads because I’m in the wrong country, but I think you’ve missed the point of the ads: they’re almost certainly not being broadcast to get those precious few executives to buy a car for Christmas, though that would be a happy coincidence, but to raise brand awareness and image. Just think how about much the TV ads cost and how many cars would need to sell just to cover that. **See, you’re talking about it now, aren’t you?** > > Do we have any advertising guys in the house? They’ll undoubtedly explain it better than I have. I think this is the best answer. It’s not about selling cars as gifts: otherwise, most of the ads would be for the sort of cars people DO give as gifts (usualy to kids graduating high school): Used (mostly) and new low end cars. The idea is about establishing your type of luxury car as the _ultimate_ gift, because that feeds into the whole idea that buying a luxury car is the ultimate consumer purchase. When people watch those ads, they identify with the recipent, not the giver, and they think “God, I wish I was getting one of those”. This means that when they do go to buy a new car in a few months, they are a little more likely to swing by the Lexus dealer as well as the Honda place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-car-for-christmas/334963.md?page=1)