chrysler's path to recovery stops at the modern house

We all know where Chrysler has been in recent years. Bankrupt, bailed out, taking a stab at it again, turning over a new leaf, chasing quality, reinventing themselves. This time they are going to do it right, freshen those designs, build that mystique, park their cars in front of the modern house.

Same old cars perhaps, but they have trimmed them up, new headlamps, new logos, new look. And to put that new image across to car buyers, this time they are going to do what works so well for those other car companies. They are going to show us that the kind of person that owns a modern house is the kind of person that owns their car. They are successful, smart, and cool, and Chrysler's products are one of the things that cool people gather around them. Everyone knows that, except maybe those mcmansion builders...

the modern house is no stretch for Nissan

In Nissan's new commercial for their Maxima sedan, the happy couple expecting a baby live in, what else - the modern house. Because, what other kind of house would this hip, yet successful young couple live in? A colonial? Nope. A giant McMansion? Uh uh.

Nothing but the modern house will do when Nissan wants you to understand that their product is owned by cool people. And a sure fire way to make yourself cool is to own their product too. So when Nissan sets out to make sure the owners of their car in the commercial look cool, well they have to be sure to put them in the perfect modern house. Not too big, not too fancy, but 100% modern. The message comes through loud and clear to us. How about the housing industry? Hello? Anybody home?

chevy goes modern for the volt intro

Over on the Chevrolet web site the new Chevy Volt has been rolled out, the hope of an ailing industrial giant, the Prius killer, the Hail Mary Pass, the last chance to get it right - call it however you see it. When GM closed its eyes and swung for that home run they did what any self preserving Fortune 500 company would do. They put their product in front of a modern house to make it look good.

Because we all know that the cool folks, the smart folks, the folks we want to be like, the folks that GM wants us to copy and buy a Volt, all live in a cool modern house.

But not the housing industry apparently. You remember the housing industry, don't you? I may disparage GM, but GM did not drag the rest of the world economy into the dirt with their own self indulgent out-dated relationship with their own dinosaur, the SUV. However the housing industry did manage to crash the world economy by encouraging us to flip ever bigger McMansions. Where is the Housing Industries Volt? Hmmmm? Where is its smart, green, efficient, and modern product to turn around its fortunes?

corning looks to the future, sees modern house

In this promotional video by Corning about the role glass will play in our future, the modern home plays a prominent role. But sure you might say, its a video about the future - of course it has a modern home. No, the house in the video is clearly a mid-century modern style home, likely somewhere in California and chosen to be the domestic setting for the video.

So even when making a speculative video about the future, Corning looks to our present to define the modern house. It makes sense though. We could hardly imagine all of these futuristic high tech tools and accessories integrated into a traditional home. It would be a complete contradiction. No, in their eyes the modern house is the inevitable future. But not here in the real world. Builders and developers haven't figured this out yet. Even when its all around them and in their face in popular media. They still remain blindly focused on traditional homes. Perhaps time moves backwards for them and the future never arrives. So long builders, its been nice knowing you...

hyundai gets a taste of the modern house

In this Edmunds Inside Line article the brand new and shiney Hyundai Genesis sedan is posed in front of the modern house to good effect. Its not clear if the photos were shot by Edmunds, or stock material provided by Hyundai. But either way the intention is clear. The car is the newest and greatest. If you want to emphasize that you show it in front of a house that everybody looking also understands is the latest and greatest - the modern house.

See it at Edmund's site.

Thanks to Jim for spotting this one. Reader contributions greatly appreciated.