But if you take the halo effect of all the free advertising and media exposure, put a dollar value on that, I would suspect they probably came up with a calculation that said, at worst, it's about break-even.

Even though they'll be value priced, they'll still carry hefty profit margins. They'll have better fuel economy and should do well. The market will be smaller, but it's still a big market.

For Active Explorers, 52% say internet advertising and 49% say email advertising are the most influential media for making a purchase of a car, whereas Independents say that word of mouth, reading an article about the product or TV are the most influential. Active Explorers also use media in different day parts and engage in simultaneous media use differently than Independents.

As the wall between advertising and content erodes, the aptitude required to understand the functions and design of media content becomes more complex.

Companies certainly back out [of advertising] when they feel their message won't resonate with customers or the media.

This false distance is present everywhere: in spy films, in Godard, in modern advertising, which uses it continually as a cultural allusion. It is not really clear in the end whether this 'cool' smile is the smile of humour or that of commercial complicity. This is also the case with pop, and its smile ultimately encapsulates all its ambiguity: it is not the smile of critical distance, but the smile of collusion