Funny Car Commercial of the Day: Fiat versus the bicycle
Fiat Palio ad from veryfunnyads.com - Click above to watch the video after the break
For today's Funny Car Commercial of the Day, we take a trip into another land where automobile drivers often find it necessary to share the road with their fellow human-powered, two-wheeled travelers. We wouldn't know, having lived right here in the U.S. of A. our whole lives, but apparently bicyclists in South Africa happen to have a few irritating habits... like using the hood of your car as a means to balance themselves while waiting for the light to change.
If the commercial pasted after the break is any indication, perhaps the aforementioned practice isn't such a good idea. Consider yourself warned: unclip from your pedals and put your feet on the ground – it's safer that way. Stay tuned for another funny car commercial on this space in short order and click on over to veryfunnyads.com for more. *Warning: video autoplays.
[Source: veryfunnyads.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jake 11:05AM (9/17/2009)
As someone who lives in Austin, where owning a bicycle is a license to be jerk, I found the commercial hilarious.
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Victor 11:44AM (9/17/2009)
Trust me, seems like alot of folks who own any from of self-controlled transport (car, motorcycle, truck, RV, powerboat, bicycle, functional legs) seems to turn them into jerks. Not exclusive to bikes
Brandon 11:45AM (9/17/2009)
Cyclists = jerks.
Drivers = idiots.
It seems to me that, as a transportation machine gets larger, its operator's brain gets smaller. Well, may be that's because larger vehicle's drivers don't have to think too much to stay alive.
PG 12:02PM (9/17/2009)
I live in Austin also. Our "cyclist" community drives me up the effing wall.
You know, (most) drivers, pedestrians and motorcycle riders don't aimlessly cut into traffic with no regard for anyone else — so why do seemingly ALL bike riders think it's OK?
Then one of them gets hit by a car because they were doing something stupid and we have to have a candlelight vigil at the Capitol.
Victor 12:23PM (9/17/2009)
"You know, (most) drivers, pedestrians and motorcycle riders don't aimlessly cut into traffic with no regard for anyone else"
Uh...yeah they do
Josh 12:27PM (9/17/2009)
I live in Austin as well and while I understand that we need to protect bicyclists it doesn't absolve them from the necessity of protecting themselves from traffic: IE staying in the bike lanes and watching for cross traffic rather than flying through already crowded roads.
I still remember when I bicyclist got hit crossing the off ramp of 360 a couple years back because he wasn't minding traffic at all. I understand the viewpoint of the people riding their bikes because Its an awesome form of excercise that I partake in as well, but that doesn't absolve you from paying attention to the primary traffic on roads: cars.
James Sonne 12:43PM (9/17/2009)
I bike to work because it takes less time to go 5.5 mi by bicycle than by car in Lexington, KY. I also drive a lot (hence me reading autoblog) and love cars. But it seems that drivers have an incomplete understanding of right-of-way, which is why bikers seem like 'jerks'. Sometimes, I intentionally act like a jerk when drivers display their idiocy around me biking just to make a point that I do in fact have the right of way and if I get hit by a car I'm not the one going to jail.
Also, it is very difficult for a bicyclist to stop, especially abruptly. It's not something that can be done as absent mindedly as in a car.
But yeah, I know that drivers think I'm being a jerk, and it just makes me act like more of a jerk. I think it's this assurance of right-of-way that makes us bicyclists come off as jerks, and I know how frustrating it is to drive a car to work and sit in traffic for 20 minutes ... that's why I cycle, but the road is a public space. People should open their windows and listen and look at what's going on around them. I see drivers use their cars as battering rams to get across crosswalks where pedestrians have the right of way. People are not taught how DEADLY a car is.
DKB_SATX 2:54PM (9/17/2009)
@James Sonne: At least in Texas, bicycles do not "have the right of way." They are required to comply with the rules of the road just as drivers of automobiles and motorcycles are, though there are some special exceptions allowed to bicyclists such as lane-sharing. This is not to say that they have fewer rights to use the road than motorists, I'm just pointing out that they have no MORE rights. Bicyclists are required to stop where other traffic is required to stop, yield the right-of-way to vehicles just as a motorist would in the same situation, etc.
James Sonne 4:32PM (9/17/2009)
@DKB_SATX: All true. Bicyclists have all the same right-of-ways as a motor vehicle ... which is the problem, because a lot of motorists I encounter don't understand that, and when I use that right-of-way, motorists think I'm a jerk.
nrb 11:11AM (9/17/2009)
I could swear I saw this (or something much like it) a few years ago, but it's still funny.
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Farris 11:14AM (9/17/2009)
It IS funny, but you're right... I wanna say it's about 5 years old, but I don't know Fiats, so I can't confirm that.
Usually I don't get on AB's case about old things, but I thought old videos were reserved for weekend posts?
Farris 11:44AM (9/17/2009)
Just as a followup, that looks to be a series 1 Palio, which ended production in 2001.
I hate being bored at work. It makes me critical of the things I love.
mk15 11:19AM (9/17/2009)
That was funny.
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Shiftright 11:25AM (9/17/2009)
Hey, there's a red Alfetta GTV coupe three cars visible behind the Fiat in the first few seconds!
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Nuieve 11:31AM (9/17/2009)
Gosh I hate f%$#ing bicyclists...
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Glancing Aft 11:44AM (9/17/2009)
and we hate you
JDM Life 12:15PM (9/17/2009)
Me too.
IMB 11:42AM (9/17/2009)
God I wish I could that! I can't stand those cyclists!
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JDM Life 12:16PM (9/17/2009)
Cant stand them either....always riding in the damn way !
Syke 11:58AM (9/17/2009)
That commercial is a direct copy from a Volkswagen commercial a couple of years back.
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