# Um, about that line, Subaru **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569 "2015-03-09T02:00:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/21 "2015-03-09T20:54:52Z")
I think you’re misinterpreting the daughter’s reaction. The mother isn’t speaking out loud. The voiceover is what she’s thinking. She then looks over at her daughter and is amazed at how much she’s grown. The daughter, who doesn’t hear any of this, says “What?” as in “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at me? Is there something stuck in my teeth?” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/22 "2015-03-09T21:04:51Z")
> [@DJ\_Motorbike](#): > > I’ve read the OP no fewer than ten times, I’ve watched the commercial. > > You described the commercial. Then wrote “PHRASING”. > > Having read other responses I suppose the implication is that you imagine some sort of sexual tension between the mother and daughter. Right? Is that what this thread is about? If so. No. It’s just you, OP. But if that’s the point you were trying to make why not just come right out and say it? > > Why the need for such cryptic phrasing? > > 1/10 I also dont get it. Explain OP. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/23 "2015-03-09T21:06:51Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I think you’re misinterpreting the daughter’s reaction. The mother isn’t speaking out loud. The voiceover is what she’s thinking. She then looks over at her daughter and is amazed at how much she’s grown. The daughter, who doesn’t hear any of this, says “What?” as in “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at me? Is there something stuck in my teeth?” This is how I see it, also. It did take me paying attention (I usually dont pay attention to ads) to get it. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/24 "2015-03-09T21:09:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I don’t equate “grew up” with “lost her virginity” at all. If she’d said “became a woman”, yeah, sure, that’s common phrasing. But “grew up”, that’s just in your own dirty, dirty minds. Then what’s the “what?” for? > [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I think you’re misinterpreting the daughter’s reaction. The mother isn’t speaking out loud. The voiceover is what she’s thinking. She then looks over at her daughter and is amazed at how much she’s grown. The daughter, who doesn’t hear any of this, says “What?” as in “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at me? Is there something stuck in my teeth?” OK. (I didn’t watch it.) But that makes it just seem extraneous. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/25 "2015-03-09T21:09:28Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Nice commercial about a Subaru, voiceover by a woman about raising her daughter in the car, first word, etc, with child aging through commercial. > > To the payoff… “My daughter grew up in the back seat of that car” and a shot of a young teenage girl saying “What?” > > PHRASING. Yeah, I had the same reaction. I much prefer their dog-themed ads. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/26 "2015-03-09T21:19:50Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I think you’re misinterpreting the daughter’s reaction. The mother isn’t speaking out loud. The voiceover is what she’s thinking. She then looks over at her daughter and is amazed at how much she’s grown. The daughter, who doesn’t hear any of this, says “What?” as in “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at me? Is there something stuck in my teeth?” This. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/27 "2015-03-09T21:21:08Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Then what’s the “what?” for? How is the “What” relevant to the “she had sex in the backseat of the car” theory? Sounds like daughter was just confused. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/28 "2015-03-09T21:29:23Z")
The mother is reminiscing about how much her daughter has grown up, she looks at her child wistfully. The daughter, noticing the look on the mom’s face says “what?” oblivious to her mother’s thoughts about how much she has changed. The losing her virginity interpretation is a real stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/29 "2015-03-10T01:52:32Z")
I have never in my life heard “grew up” = “lose virginity” until I read this thread, and now I’m worried about what other incredibly mundane phrases people might get their jollies from. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/30 "2015-03-10T02:02:26Z")
I think that if the script had read just “My daughter grew up in this Subaru” nobody would be making the nudge-nudge-wink-wink connection. It’s the words “back seat” that to some bring up a very common American teenage sex trope. As it is, when I first encountered the ad on the air it took me two beats to go :smack: and realize what it was that was supposed to be “off” about it. OTOH the Chrysler Concorde ad, where part of the punchline is the voiceover about spacious back seats, was utterly brazen and I applaud the gumption of everyone involved in creating and broadcasting it. It was later edited to a "safer’ version that still teases the implicit image of parental automotive sex but steers away from it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/31 "2015-03-10T02:55:01Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I think you’re misinterpreting the daughter’s reaction. The mother isn’t speaking out loud. The voiceover is what she’s thinking. She then looks over at her daughter and is amazed at how much she’s grown. The daughter, who doesn’t hear any of this, says “What?” as in “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at me? Is there something stuck in my teeth?” I agree with this interpretation. But the part of the commercial I don’t buy is when the daughter opens the door to go to school for the first time. I don’t think parents just drop their child off at the curb when on the very first day of school (five years old? six years old?). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/32 "2015-03-10T03:01:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t think parents just drop their child off at the curb when on the very first day of school (five years old? six years old?). You’re right, I had to ride my bike my first day. 😃 To be fair, I’m the seventh of eight kids and the school had had an orientation day so I already knew where my classroom was, bike racks and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/33 "2015-03-10T03:16:48Z")
I was thinking of my niece, who was very shy and cried for the first day and a half of kindergarten. This is while her mother stayed with her. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/34 "2015-03-10T03:25:23Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > How is the “What” relevant to the “she had sex in the backseat of the car” theory? Sounds like daughter was just confused. But there’s no reason for “daughter was just confused” to be in there. No reason for the “grew up in the back seat” to be voiced, either, if there’s no implication. Just the visual sequence carries that already. Big-name commercials are _heavily_ conceptualized, directed, produced, edited. As a rule, every shot and every sound is there for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/35 "2015-03-10T03:34:54Z")
The ad was obviously _intended_ to be perfectly innocent, but every time I hear it I think “Look lady, I don’t need to hear about where your daughter lost her virginity.” > [@JRDelirious](#): > > I think that if the script had read just “My daughter grew up in this Subaru” nobody would be making the nudge-nudge-wink-wink connection. It’s the words “back seat” that to some bring up a very common American teenage sex trope. This, plus the phrasing of the line in the ad is actually slightly different than that in the OP. The part about the backseat is at the beginning of the sentence. Had the sentence started with “She grew up in…” then that probably wouldn’t make me go “TMI!” as much, as the expected ending to such a sentence would be the name of a place. But opening with “The backseat of my Subaru is where she…” seems to be leading towards an ending where the daughter engaged in some sort of activity in the backseat. I think this specific phrasing (for some of us, at least) provokes a brief, almost unconscious “Your teenage daughter did WHAT in the backseat?” reaction. If the sentence had ended with “told me about her dreams” or something then I’d probably forget this fleeting reaction before the ad was over. But the actual ending of the sentence, “she grew up”, doesn’t help much as it strikes me as uncomfortably close to “she became a woman” (a well-known euphemism for a young woman losing her virginity). ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/36 "2015-03-10T18:24:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Every time I see that commercial, I change the words in my head to ‘My daughter lost her virginity in the back of that car.’ Yeah, Hubby and I cracked up about that from the first time we saw that commercial. Glad I’m not the only one with a dirty mind. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/37 "2015-03-10T18:34:03Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > But there’s no reason for “daughter was just confused” to be in there. No reason for the “grew up in the back seat” to be voiced, either, if there’s no implication. Just the visual sequence carries that already. > > Big-name commercials are _heavily_ conceptualized, directed, produced, edited. As a rule, every shot and every sound is there for a reason. The daughter’s reaction and the mother’s statements are both to frame the commercial as something other than a commercial. The mother is reliving the daughter’s childhood through the car. The daughter thinks he mother is weird for staring at her while reminiscing. We’re supposed to think that we’re not in a commercial, we’re sharing part of their lives. It’s also a way to insert some humor, since the daughter doesn’t understand what the mother is thinking, but someday she’ll be a mother herself and will do the same. For me it works (if by works, I’m allowed to mean “I see a manipulative emotional/sentimental ploy that ties parenthood to automobile purchases”). I don’t see anything dirty or sexual implied at all. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/38 "2015-03-10T18:48:14Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > For me it works (if by works, I’m allowed to mean “I see a manipulative emotional/sentimental ploy that ties parenthood to automobile purchases”). I don’t see anything dirty or sexual implied at all. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/39 "2015-03-10T18:57:03Z")
There was a recent ad campaign for Fanta soda. The campaign used a line about bringing back the “good old times”. Not a good idea given Fanta’s history. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569/40 "2015-03-10T18:57:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t think parents just drop their child off at the curb when on the very first day of school (five years old? six years old?). My mom put me on the school bus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-about-that-line-subaru/714569.md?page=3)