Do Not Attempt.
America has no legal system. Instead of actual laws and punishments, everything seems to be about money. You don't prosecute, you sue. As such, adverts are full of disclaimers, especially ones for cars (and there are a
lot of car adverts on telly here). I even saw one which featured someone daydreaming about his car being able to fly, with the not-a-hint-of-irony disclaimer:
Car does not actually fly.
So I'm quite surprised at a recent Jeep advert. Normally, these things show the vehicle of choice sliding about through gravel and mud, pulling handbrake turns and the like. Risky manoeuvres, certainly, but nothing over the top. Nonetheless, there's the ever-present disclaimer:
Closed course. Trained driver. Do not attempt.
Now, in order to tie in with the new
Sahara movie, there's one of those half-advert-half-trailer thingies out. It features a Jeep sliding about in gravel and sand, and launching off of the top of sand dunes. It also features the occupants firing heavy automatic weapons at pursuing helicopters and lobbing hand grenades at other vehicles.
Not a peep.
So, apparently it's a big no-no to be driving a four-wheel drive off road vehicle through some deep mud, but using it in dangerous paramilitary operations is fine and dandy.
Still, I suppose the kind of person who'd be using their Jeep as a mobile weapons platform wouldn't be suing the manufacturers because the cupholders snap off at high speeds.
