In this episode Nicola and James discuss the rise of sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Having started life as military vehicles, you might wonder how massive, bulky, SUVs could become not only the most popular vehicle type on UK roads, but one that is increasingly associated with safety. But as we hear, the identity of SUVs has been remoulded by advertising that presents them as cool, modern, family-friendly cars, whilst conveniently forgetting to mention the outsized risk they pose to other road users. To begin tackling the problem of SUVs, we need to first challenge their promotion in advertising.

Show notes

• Watch the ad for the Volvo EX90 herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQX-QXxwGvA
• Read Badvertising's research on SUV advertising here: https://www.badverts.org/s/Advertising-and-demand-for-SUVs_Kasser-et-alBadvertising-2021.pdf
• Check out the SUV Alliance and manifesto here: https://www.suv-alliance.org.uk
• Key stats and sources eg 8x more likely
• Read the 2020 Land Rover Defender review in the Irish Times here: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/land-rover-defender-a-reboot-that-lives-up-to-the-hype-1.4295456
• Watch the 2019 Range Rover Evoque ad here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHYb-nUEgcc

Find out more about Adfree Cities at https:www.adfreecities.org.uk and on Bluesky and Instagram @adfreecities.

Credits:

Produced, edited and presented by James Ward and Nicola Wilks.

Title music by mishima.

Featuring music from "Minimal Documentary" by Penguinmusic, via Pixabay.

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