Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Car2go Ad Features Places No One In Their Right Mind Would Drive To

Zipcar is getting some new competition in the DC market with the entries of Daimler North America's Car2go and Hertz on Demand.

I understand advertising is more about evoking emotions than literally saying buy this vacuum cleaner, but this Car2go ad on Metro did a lousy job of making car sharing seem useful. Dupont Circle, Chinatown, the Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center, Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street - what do they have in common? They're places no one in their right mind would drive to from an in-city car sharing location - all are right on top of Metro stations, have really bad parking, or both. Metro, bike sharing, a cab, or a pedicab would be better options.

Even the activities don't seem either exciting or like good reasons to rent a car. Coffee, the bank, the gym - if you don't have a car, why the hell would you sign up for a gym you can't get to on foot, by bike or by Metro? Hike the Shenandoah, pick up your girlfriend at BWI, shopping at Tysons - wouldn't those be better reasons to  get a short-term rental AND sound less mundane?

Why do I care? I want collaborative consumption to work because it has huge potential to help the environment, save people tons of money, and make local economies more efficient:

No comments: