I can’t imagine it’s just me that feels irritated by the latest ActonCO2 advertising campaign stating ‘Drive five miles less a week by combining your journeys’.
Not only is this patronising message costing taxpayers millions to promote but it’s obvious that ACTONCO2 thinks male and female motorists are stupid enough to be driving unnecessary miles in the UK and are not capable of working this elementary statement out for ourselves.
Now I might run FOXY Lady Drivers Club, a life assistance motoring club for women, but that doesn’t mean I use my car any more than I absolutely have to, but sometimes I absolutely have to…
On New Year’s Eve, for example, I had some last minute envelopes to post after business so I walked to our local post box and arrived five minutes before the post should have been collected by Royal Mail. I then found that it had been collected early. So I had to go home, get the car and drive to the nearest Post Office for a 6pm collection.
And last night our 16 year old son travelled by bus and train to our nearest town (c8m as the crow flies) to go to the cinema there with some friends. His return train was cancelled, he then missed the last bus and Dad had to get the car out to collect him.
With a non existent regular bus or train service in our rural situation, what should I have done in these two instances and many more like them? Perhaps I should have blamed the Royal Mail (fat chance) and failed to carry out my business promises to customers or told my son to risk walking home at midnight ‘to act on CO2′…
Last night on TV I caught one of the ActonCO2 ads on TV that told me motorists were the transport bad guys – this might have been featured many times before as I am not a regular ITV watcher. And in today’s Sunday Telegraph an ad accuses women drivers of driving five miles more than we need to. Of course it doesn’t say ‘this is for silly women drivers’ but which is the more likely gender to ‘collect kids’ ‘go to ‘Dry Cleaners’, ‘visit the Chemist’, ‘John’s house’ or ‘Grandma’ as their half page and again very expensive ad so helpfully maps out? That’s my point.
To me these journeys are the essence of what many community Mums do in their busy week, often fitting in part time work, emergency shopping, community good works and multiple children drop offs as well. We need our cars.
As you can see I am fed up with being told what I can or cannot do with my car that I already pay heavily to run. Like most other women drivers, I am not stupid, just a responsible motorist trying to manage a family budget that includes my car.
With the cost of motoring so high already, and on the up again thanks to the new rate of VAT for starters, I do not need anyone preaching at me, especially when it is they who are wasting OUR scarce financial resources to make motorists feel guilty when we have no choice but to drive in typical everyday lives.
Before we know it, everywhere will be like Brighton, the least friendly British city for motorists and one I avoid whenever I can for that very reason…
Please HM Government’s DfT do something constructive with OUR marketing money instead of preaching at us.
To fulfil your green agenda, why not promote FOXY Lady Drivers Club’s free car fitness checks including emissions?
Or explain to women drivers the safety, reliability and CO2 implications of having your car serviced regularly and by a garage that is good enough to do the job professionally and at a fair price. So many cars have gone without servicing in 2009 for financial reasons…
At least this would be a positive message for a change and could do the motor industry some good as a consequence.
FOXY Steph
“I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something”.
