subject: Hyundai Cars Appearing On Screen Are Symptomatic Of Evolving Car Culture [print this page] Car culture is evolving and nowhere is this more apparent than on movie and television screens. Many of the cars the people once took to represent the epoch of style and sophistication are now prized as antique collectibles. Meanwhile a new generation of practical cars for the everyday hero are appearing on screens around the country and reflecting the new consciousness of the car buying public. Leading the pack are Hyundai cars, which are appearing in more films and movies but also in more driveways and garages.
Two of AMC's most popular shows, Mad Men and Walking Dead, are good showcases of changing car culture. The last episode of Mad Men featured Jaguar cars heavily. Unlike movies and TV shows five or ten years ago that would have fetishized the cars and featured them in car chases, Mad Men takes a more practical approach. They point out the cars many flaws and its impracticality and try to market it despite its flaws.
Now let's look at AMC's Walking Dead. You figure that this action packed zombie saga would feature a lot of fast sports cars and hummers. Wrong! Do you really want to drive a gas guzzler or a sports car when gas is in short supply, as it is in the zombie ridden world of Walking Dead? Instead, this upcoming season is said to feature Hyundai cars. After the zombie apocalypse people are driving around in a Hyundai Elantra because it is reliable, safe, and fuel efficient. It really makes a lot of sense.
Even the car racing movies from The Fast and the Furious franchise feature characters who lease a Hyundai (or buy one) for racing. Why? It's because Hyundai cars are relatable and stylish. People in the audience probably have never driven an Italian sports car but they have driven Hyundai cars, and they know what they are capable of. It makes the characters on screen more relatable and realistic. What seems more likely, a street racing teenager who can afford a Hyundai Elantra lease or one that can afford a lease on a Bently?
The fact of the matter is the day of fetishizing gas guzzling hummers and impractical two seaters are just over. Our economic and cultural climates are not conducive to that kind of conspicuous consumption. Instead people want practical and sexy cars, two adjectives any Hyundai car wears with pride. Hollywood didn't create the trend, they simply responded to it.
