# American ingenuity and German rocket science? WTH?!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2002, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551 "2002-07-18T05:11:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/1 "2002-07-18T05:11:26Z")
Jeep has this new ad blah blah blahing about something or other and the intro has a picture of a footprint on the moon and starts some little ad sermon about how we got to the moon with “American ingenuity and German rocket science.” I had to take a moment to let it sink in to make sure I had heard the ad correctly. Yep, I heard correctly, they said “American ingenuity and German rocket science.”. Now… this may in fact be true in a historical context, but (IMO) the term “German rocket science” is so loaded historically with images of V2’s, buzz bombs and Hitler’s ambitions of conquest I was absolutely flabbergasted this is considered a useful and positive reference. I have no doubt this is probably some advertising person’s nifty idea of a metaphor for the combined power of the Mercedes-Chrysler-Jeep alliance but really … “German rocket science” as an appropriate touchstone? This article will give a little historical background [- From Nazis to NASA](http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/world_war_2/81347) Am I being historically hyper-sensitive here or does this advertising metaphor combo strike an odd note for anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/2 "2002-07-18T05:30:15Z")
Well, Werner Von Braun was German, but is not thought of as a NAZI war criminal. It’s a poorly-thought-out campaign. Jeep wants to latch onto the “German precision” concept and get some of BMW’s thunder, but forgetting what the German used rockets for was just plain dumb. I’m betting this line won’t be used in the British sales campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/3 "2002-07-18T14:10:55Z")
"We aim for the stars . . . but sometimes we hit London". ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/4 "2002-07-18T14:12:08Z")
“The new Blitz: Jettas instead of Jets!” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/5 "2002-07-18T15:16:05Z")
It’s not just Jeep, Chyrsler and Dodge are using it as well. It was very, um, unsettling when I first saw the ad campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/6 "2002-07-18T16:26:30Z")
I just got a joke I heard years ago on one of those car commercials. Two Americans were driving against a German on the Autobahn. German passes the Americans and says _‘guten Morgen’_ good-naturedly to them before he speeds off - for the German-impaired, he said ‘good morning’. Americans look at each other cluelessly, and one asks the other what he said. Other American says “I think he said ‘good stomach’” - the German for that would be _guter Magen_. Laughed my butt off when I finally realized that, because that’s exactly the mistake I would have made. German engineering combined with brilliant humor - a fearsome combination. But I admit that there are Nazi undertones to the concept of German engineering - the Volkswagen was developed at first as a cheap automobile for the Third Reich, if I’m not mistaken, and a lot of people know that. Still, I wouldn’t worry - Beetles are selling like hotcakes. Even I’d like to get one. Most people don’t equate the Germans with Nazis anymore; at least that’s the impression I get (but IAMNAGerman). ---
**Author:** ![Lux\_Fiat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lux\_Fiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lux_Fiat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/7 "2002-07-18T16:59:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > Am I being historically hyper-sensitive here or does this advertising metaphor combo strike an odd note for anyone else? Struck an odd note for me. Especially in an advertisement for Jeeps, which were, you know, used to drive around U.S. troops, who were at the time trying to kill, you know, Germans. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/8 "2002-07-18T18:12:51Z")
I’ve also thought this is an odd campaign, since the people who know history would immediately think of the London campaign, while those who don’t know history won’t have the slightest idea what they are talkng about. The whole thing reminds me of a 1970 book, “From Those Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Pearl Harbor” – the title came from a slogan that some misguided ad person had actually proposed, although in this case the idea was mercifully immediately shot down, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/9 "2002-07-18T18:16:11Z")
Well, there’s a Jeep print ad which talks about satisfied owners and has pictures of George S. Patton, MacArthur, and Eisenhower. I think that what they’re trying to do is have patriotic ads, that don’t scream “Red, White, and Blue” and make Americans feel better that Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep are all owned by the Germans. Gotta wonder if the folks in the Chrysler, etc. plants started having flashbacks of that _Simpsons_ episode where the Germans bought the powerplant when Mercedes took over. ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Parine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Allen\_Parine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allen_Parine)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-ingenuity-and-german-rocket-science-wth/119551/10 "2002-07-18T18:29:56Z")
Yeah, German rocket science brought the V2 into the world, but American ingenuity gave us powered flight in the first place. Face the fact that human creativity can be directed toward destructive ends. Celebrate invention anyway and to hell with Hitler!