# Commercials about car that no one can describe **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089 "2019-01-20T02:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CPU\_Sharkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CPU\_Sharkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CPU_Sharkey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/1 "2019-01-20T02:16:33Z")
I remember around 2010 or so, there were 2 commercials for a sedan-type car with a boxy-looking rear. The gimmick of the commercials is that everyone had trouble describing it. In the first commercial, there was a James Bond -type character making a getaway in the car. A spy is observing the car while talking to his boss on a cell phone. The boss says “describe it!”. The spy just stammers, “it’s uh… uh…” while the hero makes his escape. The second commercial had a skeleton robot like they used in the Terminator movies. It looks at the car, and you see it scan down a list of types of cars. The robot fails to find a match, gets confused, and has a short-circuit. I can’t remember what kind of car was being advertised. I was hoping to find the commercials on YouTube but don’t know what to search for. The second commercial is particularly relevant in respect to the self-driving car technology. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/2 "2019-01-20T02:40:02Z")
Kia Soul? ETA, Toyota had a thing too. ‘The Cube’, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![CPU\_Sharkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CPU\_Sharkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CPU_Sharkey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/3 "2019-01-20T08:30:52Z")
I don’t think it was either of those, I think it looked more like a Prius, having the bigger back-end. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/4 "2019-01-20T08:57:05Z")
Now that you mention it I recall a similar style of commercial, some bank robbers rob a bank and are about to get away when 3 police cars surround them in front of the bank. However all the cops leave their vehicles and run inside the bank leaving the perplexed robbers to simply weave through the parked cars and get away, and the gist of the commercial was also about people not being able to recognize a car. Don’t know if it was for the same vehicle though. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/5 "2019-01-20T13:18:24Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Now that you mention it I recall a similar style of commercial, some bank robbers rob a bank and are about to get away when 3 police cars surround them in front of the bank. However all the cops leave their vehicles and run inside the bank leaving the perplexed robbers to simply weave through the parked cars and get away, and the gist of the commercial was also about people not being able to recognize a car. Don’t know if it was for the same vehicle though. That’s this one [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yUo0ms-IwM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yUo0ms-IwM) maybe. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/6 "2019-01-20T15:10:39Z")
We’re not talking about the Tom Hiddleston Jaguar commercials are we? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/7 "2019-01-20T15:21:01Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > That’s this one [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yUo0ms-IwM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yUo0ms-IwM) maybe. The only connection to the ad described in the OP was that it was about a car. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/8 "2019-01-20T17:21:00Z")
I believe there have been enough attempts at a factual answer to bring in the commentarty that obviously the ad failed in the primary purpose of actually promoting the brand. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/9 "2019-01-20T17:30:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The only connection to the ad described in the OP was that it was about a car. I’m not talking about the OP’s ad - I’m talking about Asuka’s ad, and like the one Asuka described, my link has bank robbers running out of a bank, past the police and getting a car from a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/10 "2019-01-20T18:39:20Z")
There was a series of Buick ads with the premise that the new Buicks could not be recognized as Buicks [Idiotic Buick commercials - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739734) ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/11 "2019-01-21T02:47:15Z")
I remember seeing ads in the UK for Skodas–the joke was “there’s no way that’s a Skoda.” The one I remember best had a parking lot attendant apologizing to an owner: “I’m very sorry sir, but someone’s put a Skoda badge on your car.” This would have been 2001/2002 though; and I’m guessing the OP is in the US, and Skodas have never been sold here as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![CPU\_Sharkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CPU\_Sharkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CPU_Sharkey)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-about-car-that-no-one-can-describe/828089/13 "2019-01-21T14:45:47Z")
It was in the US. Also the commercials weren’t on the air for very long, maybe the span of a few months, so it might be a brand not widely distributed here. I looked up Skoda ads on YouTube but didn’t see anything like the ones I remember, including the theme of “not being describable”. The prius commercial didn’t seem to be about confusing the automobile type. Thanks for all your input. though. One thing about the internet – it’s easy to look up textual references like song lyrics, but visual or audible information is very difficult.