Oh, Honda, no

Here's The Mary Sue's take on it. (The only ad I've seen "in the wild" so far is the Jem/GI Joe one. And that's not a 'real' Jem doll they used).

I don't know. I'm just a bit older than the age group marketed to (I did have a Strawberry Shortcake doll, but I didn't really play with it; it was purchased more as a desperate attempt to hold on to childhood for a few more months). I don't know. I guess I am kind of a boring adult; when I choose a car it's based on things like the brand's repair and safety record, and how reliable the model is. And gas mileage, though I know I could do better on that. (Side note: I've seen the first little Four-twos zipping around town here. Great for in-town stuff but I SO would not be comfortable taking one of those out on 75). I don't buy a car primarily because it makes me happy. (I wouldn't buy an aggressively ugly car, like the bad old Aztek, even if it was highly rated, but I also don't largely choose based on features or appearance)

Anyway, the theme of the ads seems to be, "You can once again be as happy as a kid at Christmas getting the toy they really wanted, by getting this new car!"

Is that true of anyone? I mean, I was happy when I got my then new (now 4+ years old) car, but it was mostly relief that I once again had something under warranty, and I didn't have the choice any more of  "Are the problems with my old one worth fixing or not?"

I hate to say it, but I think once you pass childhood, that kind of excitement and happiness over getting some material object are gone forever. The last time I felt a joy comparable to getting the very thing I wanted on Christmas morning it was over finding out that the cancer of someone I cared about had gone into remission. Things change when you become a grownup. And even though I'd be happy to, say, buy a random blindbag pony and get Cheese Sandwich (I only saw that "wave" available once, and I didn't get him then), it would not be the same kind of sustained happiness I felt over, say, getting the Fisher-Price castle when I was 7. I suppose in a way that's a good thing that your priorities change as an adult, but it's also a little sad that it's harder sometimes to find that kind of joy. (My recent doll-purchase and plans to sew clothes for her are part of my trying to recapture that feeling.)

Happiness is more complicated, and I think more fleeting, as an adult. And anyone who tells you that buying a new car is the same as getting the toy you Wanted More Than Anything and had written to Santa about and told your parents about and wished for and hoped for, is probably lying to you. Maybe it's because you do the picking-out of it and they paying-for it yourself? (Oh, all the car ads show spouses buying spouses cars for Christmas, but that's not the same, is it? I mean, most couples I know pool their money, or mostly pool it, so buying a car has to be a couple's decision.)

Honestly, these days, I get more fun out of getting presents for OTHER people and thinking about how the thing I'm giving them will hopefully please them,  than in getting presents myself. Though again, maybe that's part of being a grown-up.

(Or I'm totally wrong in this and I'm one of those people who's just hard to make happy. Maybe everyone else is deliriously happy over a new car, I don't know. Then again, I tend to be one of those "Buy a good car and drive it into the ground before getting a new one" type of people.)

I'm just hoping Hasbro doesn't license My Little Ponies (even the first-generation ones, which would be in keeping with the way the ads are done) for this.

Though I do have to say that the Skeletor one is pretty funny.