I remember a few years back, reading some information about auto industry research into the habits of SUV owners. It said that 99% of them NEVER take their "off-road" vehicles off the road.

Fake mud seems to me like it would appeal to Hummer drivers, whose theme song should be "Tomorrow Belongs To Me."

also good for foiling redlight/speeding cameras.

There was a news article about this product last weekend. Some people have been using this product to obscure their license plates so that traffic cameras couldn't capture their license plate numbers and send them tickets.

"What will they think of next?"

How about canned snow for Eskimoes on summer holidays?

I get real mud for free where I work.

Am I the only one who thinks that picture looks photoshopped?

I don't know if it's photoshopped or not, but it doesn't look like 'real' off-road mud. It's much too thin, it looks like you drove through a muddy puddle and got splashed. Real off-road mud has big chuck in it from where mud that was in the lugs of your tire sloughs off and get stuck to your truck's body.

The pic looks photoshopped to me too. But the idea is great... I've got an ex with a sports car... I wonder if they sell that stuff in bulk. Hmmmm...

That stuff looks kind of fake...isnt mud usually more textured, and not all flat?

I notice they make sure to mention many times that it can obscure license plate (of course it should never be used for that) but if you are caught you will receive no endorsement on your license. So I'm guessing the real purpose of this stuff is to do what they tell you not to do. Kind of like those hippy shops that sell pipes that are for "tobacco use only."

yes, it's photoshopped... badly

All he did was make a brown color, painted it in splotches, reduced the opacity a little on the paint and erased out the parts where the tail lights are... very "professional"

I'd venture to say that no, this isn't photoshopped... it's "MS Painted"

Photoshopped picture, and the photo of the bottle is nothing more than a bottle of toilet bowl clear with a computer printed plain paper label slapped on. 10 to 1 this product doesn't exist despite all of the news about it...

The real purpose behind spray on mud is to obscure license plates...

It's a kind of funny, if obvious, takeoff on the fact (cited above by CMG) that the vast majority of people buying these vehicles designed for ranch work and jungle exploration NEVER take their SOBs off the road.
Imagine somebody buying mud, though. I mean, where could you possibly live where you couldn't easily get mud for free? Even in Manhattan it's very easy to find.

As for Hummers, it's obvious that people only buy them because (1) 10 miles per gallon is just too good for them, or (2) It's too much trouble to always carry around a sign that says, "I'm an obnoxious *sshole."

Big Gary said:

"Imagine somebody buying mud, though. I mean, where could you possibly live where you couldn't easily get mud for free? Even in Manhattan it's very easy to find."

Sure is. Hey, Manhattan even used to have The Mudd Club, way back when. Two blocks south of Canal St. if I remember correctly.

Big Gary also said:

"As for Hummers, it's obvious that people only buy them because (1) 10 miles per gallon is just too good for them, or (2) It's too much trouble to always carry around a sign that says, "I'm an obnoxious *sshole."

At least up to a couple of years ago, SUV's in general were marketed in a way that suggested to me that the industry had determined that the potential buyers felt the need to be protected from the world around them and also thought of themselves as being "superior" in some way to those around them.

Remember the commercial in which the female SUV driver is in a mall parking lot and she spots an empty space in the next aisle? There's another woman driver in the same aisle as the spot. Driver Number One drives over a traffic island to beat her to the space. She has a very smug look on her face when she "wins."

Or how about the Hummer spot in which the kid in a soap box derby race has a "car" that looks like a miniature Hummer. He cheats by driving across the zig-zagging track and "wins."

The music for that spot was The Who's "Happy Jack" using the part "...and they couldn't prevent Jack from being happy." I think that's the attitude of the person Hummer is aiming at: the world is out to prevent him/her from attaining the happiness he/she is intended by God to have. Sad.

Obviously we can learn a lot about a person by what they drive. What do you drive cranky?

Cranky,

You missed the point of the Jack commercial. At one point the rules are flashed on the screen. They are "The last one to the bottom wins". Jack took a creative approach and won, because is car could do things the others could't. He went don't the same hill as the others, just did it off road. Despite being laughed at for this car's appearance (i.e. can't keep jack from being happy), Jack knew his car had other potential. The commercial encourages people to think differently about their cars...

Even if this were a real product, I expect the average person wouldn't be able to apply it to a car (even a Prius) in a manner that actually looked like natural mud splashes. And let's not even address the issue that mud varies in color according to what's in it and the local minerals.

sfdjdlfg said:

"Obviously we can learn a lot about a person by what they drive. What do you drive cranky?"

Well, the Mrs. and I tool around in an '01 Ford Explorer. We got it because we had to drive to Virginia from Idaho to retrieve some stuff from a storage locker we had there and we were going to have to pull a small trailer back.

While I've been on the beach here in Oregon with it, we've never gone officially "off-road" with the Ford.

I did say that the TV and print ads for SUV's were pitched to those who felt superior up to a few years back. I think they've changed their advertising tactics recently because the makeup of SUV purchasers has changed. In the late 90's and early 2000's, it seemed to me that they were pitched at people who felt that the world was out to get them and wanted "protection" from hostile forces.

The vast majority of people who drive SUVs here in Edinburgh are mainly using them to drive their precious little flowers to school. After all, a mile of walking might damage them.

Between my work and my home is a twisty cobbled road with very poor pavements (that'd be sidewalks for all you from the US).

Approximately once a week, I am nearly mown down on this road. Not because I'm not using the green cross code, but because people think they can speed around wherever the hell they like.
I would say that 2/3 of these times it has been SUVs.

I never really thought much about it until I started working where I work.

I think that SUV drivers tend to feel more invincible while driving, and take more risks. I have seen a lot of drivers speed into an intersection on a VERY yellow light to make a fast turn, while cutting off traffic. People in my area do tend to use SUVs more for towing boats, RVs, mowers/tractors, & jet skis. So while they're not going offroading, they still need the power for a specific use.

Every time I see someone driving an SUV, they are engaging in a behavior which reinforces my negative opinion of them, and which I then apply to all people who drive SUVs.

The thing I hear most often here in Colorado is that people buy them to be safer in the snow. "It's a 4 wheel drive, so it better in the snow." While it may be true that it's easier to get traction in the snow, it seems they also feel that 4 wheel drive also means 4 wheel STOP too. On the somewhat rare occasions that we have snow on the highways, I usually see SUVs flying by my little Integra on the highway. That's what scares me the most.

Real or not...

This couldn't be any more stupid!!!

I would like to say that I've met a couple hummer owners that I didn't instantly hate.

They actually took thier vehicles offroad. Don't have everyone in a hummer, just those that diserve it.

Ladies and Germs, if you cover my expenses, I'll be glad to come and cover your SUV in mud. Just to add to the illusion that you've been Off Road, I'll throw in some deer fur chunks on the bumper, barbed wire fence portions on the antenna, and large chunks of tree bark stuffed up the wheelwells...hey, I aim to please...stand still, Bambi- Hummer's a 'comin

Now that is tempting, just to meet the legendary Hairy Houdini.

I might just get some of this gunk. Not for my SUV, I don't own a vehicle, but for those idiots in cars (often with Kerry bumper stickers) that ignore the laws and nearly kill me while I am using the crosswalks or otherwise minding my own business in town. Spray it on their windshields. Paint is too hard to remove and would be a safety hazzard to other pedistrians. Although I doubt (in jest) that the drivers would notice.

And for those who have been commenting on the driving habits of SUV owners, might I point out a small bit of information about human memory? Humans tend to remember that which reinforces their previous attitudes or experiences. If you think SUV drivers are a bunch of obnoxious jerks, then incident that reinforce that attitude will be remembered more often than those that run counter to that. This might be genetic stemming from our days as hunter/gatherers. Such positive reinforcement probably got more game or fruit or whatever.

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