Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Jim Stingl column: Getting wrapped up in a car ad

Dec. 18--Questions nag at me when I see these commercials showing people getting shiny new luxury cars trimmed with huge red bows as Christmas presents.

Like, when do I get mine?

Or, does this ever happen in real life?

Or, does the big-shot giver later admit, "Oh, by the way, we still owe $50,000 for the car?"

Or, do these TV ads rub anyone else the wrong way at a time when many people are worried about affording even the gas for their crummier cars?

Every vehicle on the showroom floor at Lexus North Shore on Silver Spring Drive was decorated with a bow when I stopped there this month to indulge my curiosity. Two had faux personalized license plates reading "4 MOM" and "GR8GFT."

"It's true," said Mark Franceschi, executive general manager of the dealership. "There are some people that do wake up the morning of Christmas or Hanukkah and they open up the gift and there's the brand-new key, and inside the garage there's a brand-new Lexus with a bow on it."

Lexus, with its "December to remember" promotion, is the leader in pushing cars as holiday gifts, though it seems like every carmaker uses a bow of some kind in its advertising this time of year.

A BMW commercial shows a bow blowing off a car as it speeds across a glacier. Ask yourself, the ad says, "Do I go with the oversize red bow or the joy of driving a BMW?" (Also ask yourself why the GPS voice didn't say anything about a glacier up ahead.)

Here's something I just learned. If you go with Lexus, you usually have to give the bow back once the surprise has been sprung. The sturdy bows, which rely on gravity alone to remain on the roof of the car, cost the dealer $248 apiece, about what I paid for my first car, I think.

Lexus models start in the $30,000 range and soar past $100,000. Franceschi said he sells maybe half a dozen cars each December that are given as surprise gifts. Some are cash deals. Some are leases. The sales staff does its best to deliver the car to a secret spot as close to the holiday as possible.

"It's a luxury experience," he said.

I stood on a downtown street corner and asked a few regular people if they ever gave or received a new car for Christmas.

"No, no, no, never," said Al Jemison, though his dad once surprised his mother with a Chevrolet. "I don't think he gave it to her on a whim the way the commercial looks like."

I also got a no from Jane the Phoole, who calls herself Milwaukee's official municipal jester. "Socks would be sufficient, or a donation to a charity. But I think that's wretched American excess."

"Somebody puts a Lexus in my driveway with a ribbon on it, yeah, I'll be happy," said Ryan Ortin. "I don't know anybody that's happened to."

"I've never heard of anybody giving anybody a car. Besides Oprah," said Michele Le Claire.

I needed one last reality check, so I popped in at Big Bill's Used Cars at 58th and Center. I saw exactly zero red bows there, except for the small one I brought along and taped to the roof of a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker with an asking price of $695.

"For that price it will make a wonderful Christmas gift," said assistant manager Charles Hawkins. "It's got a little paint coming off the hood and so forth, but it's runable. It's very runable. It's got good heat in it."

Peering through the window, I commented on the seats. "Yup," Hawkins said, "that's real leather . . . well, it looks like real leather."

He has had customers give cars to spouses, girlfriends or boyfriends, he said. But not $35,000 cars. And the dealership closes for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

"We sell a lot of cheap cars here," he said. "If a person really wanted to give a loved one a car for Christmas or any birthday or any special occasion, they need to come here."

It definitely would be a December to remember at our house if I surprised my wife with a 24-year-old Chrysler topped with a bow.

Call Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or e-mail at jstingl@journalsentinel.com

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