Autoblog

Cayman Sand: Nor'Ida claims its latest victim

Noah Joseph — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:56:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Porsche

It's bad enough when natural disasters lay waste to homes and coastline, but we're not sure we can bear the sight of this sort of car-carnage. Like this image, for example, of a Porsche Cayman buried in the sand. But we guess this was bound to happen to a car that shares its name with a Caribbean archipelago (it was actually named after a small species of crocodile).

The shot was taken by Asylum blogger Elizabeth Brady on Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where the effects of "Nor'Ida" - a particularly strong Nor'Easter conspiring with the remnants of Tropical System Ida - were apparently felt particularly hard.

Natural disaster or no natural disaster, we're sure someone will find a way of blaming this on a low-flying pelican - or perhaps Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo.

Gallery: 2009 Porsche Cayman S

[Source: Asylum | Image: Elizabeth Brady]

Cayman Sand: Nor'Ida claims its latest victim originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

VIDEO: Seattle earthquake viaduct simulation released; timing politically motivated?

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:29:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety, Technology, Videos

Alaskan Way Viaduct earthquake simulation -- Click above to watch video

The Alaskan Way Viaduct (AWV) is an elevated roadway running along the Elliot Bay Waterway in Seattle. An earthquake in 2001 damaged the viaduct, and the structural degradation has only gotten worse over the years. To forestall the possibility of having the conduit collapse in another natural disaster, the city and Port of Seattle, King County, and the state government agreed earlier this year to dig a deep-bore tunnel to go under the waterway and eventually shut down the viaduct.

According to the Seattle Times, the tunnel is a contentious issue, with residents fervently pro and against. Two years ago, though, the state commissioned a video to show what would happen to the AWV if another serious earthquake hit. The six-minute CGI video that resulted could be a clip right out of the disaster movie 2012, and because of its sensationalism, it was never shown. Seattle resident Elizabeth Campbell doesn't want the tunnel and recently requested to have the video released. After saying that Campbell wouldn't get it for eight months, the city put the video on a local news show - and Campbell still hasn't received her copy.

Naturally, there's some political intrigue to accompany everything. The problem is that there's a mayoral race happening right now, with the current mayor siding for the tunnel and his opponent is against it. It has therefore been suggested that the video has been released in order to help that current mayor's campaign - you would not want to be anywhere near the AWV and phrases like "liquefied soil" if the video is anywhere close to reality. Whether it will affect votes remains to be seen. Either way, you can check out the video footage for yourself after the jump.

[Source: Seattle Times]

Continue reading VIDEO: Seattle earthquake viaduct simulation released; timing politically motivated?

VIDEO: Seattle earthquake viaduct simulation released; timing politically motivated? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Land Rover's ad agency has sick sense of marketing

John Neff — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:03:00 EST

Filed under: SUV, Marketing/Advertising, Land Rover

We recently discovered this article from Brandweek/Adweek about a new marketing campaign for Land Rover that leaves a bad taste in our mouth. Ad agency Young & Rubicam Brands took the Land Rover LR3 to actual disaster areas and filmed it among the wreckage to create spots that present the SUV as a "hero car." The campaign's theme is called "Created for the one," the idea being that the Land Rover LR3 was designed to handle that one unexpected event like a snowstorm, flood or hurricane.

To film these spots, however, the production crew actually monitored where natural disasters were occurring in the U.S. and arrived on the scene to shoot the LR3 among the wreckage. Last month they were in Levasy, Missouri, which had just been hit by flooding. Y&R creative director Miles Turpin is quoted as saying, "When it snows big time, we'll go out and do that. And when hurricane season starts, we'll go there."

The agency is reportedly aware of potentially being judged as exploiting disasters, and will offer its vehicles to emergency personnel or, as it did in Missouri, make donations to relief organizations. In our opinion, that doesn't mitigate the fact a natural disaster that caused suffering in the lives of real people is being used as a backdrop to help sell Land Rovers.

To be fair, this article was written with the marketing industry in mind as an audience, not us. The agency, which is just doing its job, comes off as insensitive and exploitative to our ears, but a professional in the biz might think this idea is genius. And while it's a good thing that Land Rover may donate money or the use of its vehicles to aid disaster relief efforts as a result of this marketing campaign, that bad taste in our mouth comes from the fact that it likely wouldn't do those things if a camera weren't there to capture it.

[Source: Brandweek]

Land Rover's ad agency has sick sense of marketing originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments