Italian silliness: Maserati says its cars can help (deserate) men pick up women

Posted by: David Welch on November 21

Need something on the lighter side during this maelstrom of bad economic news? I gotchyer comic relief right here. It’s no secret that owning an expensive car can improve anyone’s dating scene. At the very least, it will help you meet shallow people, car geeks and gold diggers, if that’s your bag. More politely put, expensive cars display wealth and in some circles, style, and taste. But Italian automaker Maserati is taking it a step further. In a play for the Maxim crowd, Maserati is running ads saying that the exhaust note of its V-8 engine actually sparks arousal in women. And the company says it has proof.

In the ad, Maserati claims that British luxury-car insurer Hiscox studied the reaction of consumers to various exhaust and engine sounds. You can check out the video here. After listening to Maserati’s engine, 100% of the women had higher testosterone levels than they did after listening to any other car. Why an insurance company studied this is beyond me. In any case, I guess we’ll see Maserati owners revving the engine for a couple of minutes before handing the keys to the valet in a play to meet women. As if pulling up in a $120,000 Gran Turismo or Quattroporte dosn’t command enough attention.

Oh, and it gets even sillier. If that same Maserati owner can’t turn on women by pulling up in the car and revving the engine, he can download the engine noise onto his cell phone and use it as a ring tone. Imagine how many posers who can’t even afford a Maserati will be walking around the pub with his ring tone going non-stop. It must be the economy that is bringing out such marketing ploys. Maserati makes some great cars. But this gambit is by the desperate for the desperate. Vroom-vroom.

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