I bet Toby and Mike Rowe have unpure thoughts of eachother.

@-chet: Nothing could be purer then their manly love...

Somebody tell him that's not a truck. It's maybe a Navigate-chero, but it's not a truck.

I loved it!!

I'd never buy a Ford product due to the fact that they've got that horse's ass hawking 'em. Well, that, and the fact that they're, uh, Fords.

and they wonder why they can't sell cars in in places like NY and LA.

The F-150 is currently on the Ford Website and the wheels look SOOOO SMALL!!!

Looks like a good update. Not as dramatic as the Ram, but nothing that's going to threaten their lock on the largest, most profitable segment in North America.

@MagnificentBastard: What do F-150s have to do with selling cars in NY and LA?

@rocketrodeo: The redkneck,red state,cowboy thing turns people off in those locations.

@MagnificentBastard: Well, that 'thing' probably gets all the duded up line dancers all hot and bothered in those markets.

Granted, LA's only country music station may have gone off the air, but I'm sure CDs, MP3s and Satellite radio can fill in the gap in those markets.

Not everybody who lives in LA or NY is from those cities. Plenty of haulin' in those country-fied commercials, which is what some of those trucks are destined for in those markets.

'Merica! Not merely a nation, but a nation of nations!

Why buy 'merican? Well, I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take a butcher's word for it.

It's gotta be your bull.

I think this would be a sweet place to stick that V6 EcoBoost V6.

So that's how the big three are surviving: A guy in a cowboy hat tells americans to buy a monstrosity running on leafsprings, and they actually do it!

If Ford thinks the person who would buy their product would look upon it favorably becuase of this retarded asshat, then I will NOT buy one if for no other reason than to not be part of that demographic.

*insert "freedom costs a buck o' five" reference here

only place these associations are really successful (country 'star' (if you will)) is out there in farm land.. i know a few people who want to upgrade their corporate fleet to more capable/better looking/more efficient (and mostly american built, to boot) trucks (toyota)... but are stuck buying american crap b/c most midwest and southwest farmers will not buy a durned thang from some guy who pulls up in one of 'em jap movers.

how about we find out the name of his favourite guitar.. and hat.. and then do an endurance test on those.... i see a vehicle that might almost be able to break their tolerances in the same pics... and the 'truck' might make it out okay too. if nothing else.. i'd watch the video of that.. happily... especially if he cried. 'cause country singers don't cry (right.. no wait.. that's cowboys..)

Toby who?

I've wondered if there's been some deliberate choices on the part of the Ford and GM about which country music stars to use as shills. Ford's choice of Toby Keith might be aimed at real red-state traditionalists while Chevy's choice of Big & Rich might be aimed at more progressive country fans.

It is just a hypothesis—I've suggested it to my girlfriend, and she thinks it's a load of crap. I think her argument had to with regionalism—that is, B&R is more popular in areas where GM is the top seller. I think the correlation is still there; GM does seem to be the top seller in blue-state rural areas.

For disclosure, I like both Toby Keith and Big & Rich, I live in the SF Bay Area, I'm originally from a midwestern blue state, and I have a Dodge Ram (because it was cheapest).

@chrystlubitshi: I hope you're referring to the Tacoma, because if your acquaintance is thinking Tundra, he's insane.

@stu-rock: Don't forget, with John Melloncamp, GM has a more mainstream-oriented Americgasm.

@franzouse: I would agree that 95% of the population living in the cities and suburbs of this country don't need truck. But if you have to haul tons of stuff for a living, there's no vehicle more useful. Besides, try hauling a ton of anything in the back and see how that independent rear suspension handles it. It isn't for the cost savings that these things have leafsprings.

Who is this Toby Keith person?

@ ELDO500

I bet ya'll shore got a purdy lit'l mouth ain't cha boy?

@dearthair: @Triborough: I'm from Connecticut (of all places) and I know who Toby Keith is.... Here's a link:
[www.cmt.com]
He's no fan of mine at all, mostly because I can't stand Country Music...

FUTK

@ STU-ROCK AT 01/13/08 04:23 PM;

Your theory would be valid except for the fact that Toby Keith has said he is NOT a Republican and John Rich (of Big & Rich) is in the middle of a major controversy because he likened same-sex marriage to incest...so instead of red versus blue it looks like a bunch of purple to me.

I like the truck but Toby Keith makes me want to vomit...not buy a Ford.

@jllevy123: Indeed. I wouldn't go so far as to call my idea a “theory”—that would give it credibility that it hasn't earned yet.

You're absolutely right about the “purple.” If these things are measurably true, we're talking about a range from “slightly reddish purple” to “slightly bluish purple.”

That said, the hypothesis has to do with listeners, not the artists. And regardless of what political party Keith aligns himself with, he is (like Rich) very conservative.