Written in 2009

"i gave up a corner office
for a home office
i collect world maps
but i study road maps
i take in the night sky
from my moon roof
i carry precious cargo--
he's big, hairy, barks at the sun
and always rides shotgun.

i live. i ride. i am. Jeep."--
The copy appearing in a double-page ad for Jeep, in The New York Times Magazine, Sunday December 27, 2009. Impossible to parody. Imagine someone at Chrysler -- bailed out now twice by the U.S. government -- hiring an ad agency, getting this shite and approving it for publication? The best one can say is that quality of the ad matches the quality of Jeep vehicles. And that the macho, I-am-a-free-spirit copy reminds us how quaint the U. S. auto industry has become.