Damned with Faint Praise?

It must be obvious by now that I’m no fan of either adverts or flashy cars. I am, however, interested in the philosophy behind advertising and the psychology of car-consciousness. And so my eye was caught by the contrasting approaches I saw in the tag lines of two car makers.

BMW: Joy is Futureproof.

Volvo: There’s more to life than a Volvo.

Now, if I had the money and mentality to be in the market for such material accoutrements, which one would appeal to me?

Er...

I would say that the ad men at BMW are aiming at the one-brain-cell man, whereas Volvo are going for the slightly superior one and a half.