For decades, car drivers and their passengers have debated and possibly even fought over which song, radio station, or CD track to listen to in the car. And given today’s plethora of additional choices, such as Pandora Internet radio, Sirius/XM satellite radio, Bluetooth Audio streams, along with media stored on SD cards and USB devices, it’s that much more difficult to make a selection about what the car’s speakers should actually be playing. Enter the new (and rather comical) commercial about the Chevy Spark.
The gist is simple: a (British) cop and a pantyhose-to-disguise-the-face-wearing robber are in a Spark — the cop in the driver’s, the robber in the passenger’s seat. After a brief exchange about each other’s lackluster appearance, the robber reaches over to the MyLink infotainment system and turns on XM radio. The cop, meanwhile, wants to listen to Pandora. A small and oh-so-comical scuffle ensues:
The GM Authority Take
We still can’t get over the clever and comical dialogue in this ad. It goes something like this:
Cop (referring to robber’s head dress — a pantyhose): where did you get that, from your mum?
Robber: I got it from my sister.
Cop: You look shabby.
Robber: This is my uniform. This is a uniform of a robber, will ya?
… just awesome — especially with the British accents.
It would seem that this clip and the Chevy Spark were made for each other: a cute little car deserves a cute ad like this one… not to mention that something as good as the touchscreen-based MyLink infotainment system is unheard-of in the Spark’s segment.
Now, what’s your answer to the first-world problem of Pandora or SiriusXM?
Comments
Pandora or Sirius XM: Neither is available in Europe.
@Observer7 Europeans, however, have access to similar-to-Pandora Spotify and Last.fm — which can be streamed via Bluetooth Audio/A2DP stack.
And given a few more months, I’m sure there will be Spotify and Last.fm apps in the GM (or GM brand) app store for both to satisfy European users:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/01/gm-announces-in-vehicle-app-catalog/
… that is, until Pandora and/or SiriusXM become available in Europe.
Oh brother.
DAB is available in Europe. DAB = Digital Audio Broadcasting. And, I believe, a higher density of FM channels than in North America.
But the point was that an ad with a British Bobby quarrying about the choice between Radio offerings which are not available in Britain is quite amusing.
I think DAB is available in North America as HD Radio, although I don’t know if they are one and the same.
Update: DAB and HD Radio are similar, but use different technology and compression to carry their signals. Both are not widely used where they are available.
PS: until you pointed it out, the irony you mentioned originally was lost upon me. No joke 🙂
While DAB and HD Radio are both digital audio broadcast formats, they are technically different and incompatible.
For a discussion of common and different features as well as geographical spread of both techniques, you might want to consult for a starter the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_radio
Why can’t I find the video anymore?