One of the most irritating things about standing in WHSmith reading the weekly car mags is the 'scoop' images they put out, inferring that that is how the car will look. A recent one which springs to mind was one of the new Corsa. I also remember seeing one for how the new Civic would look, which basically looked like a big Jazz. Completely wrong.
I can see the point of concept cars, giving a taster of a msnufacturer's new design direction, but a magazine's own image, based on not alot, seems a rather sad way to try and sell magazines. Does anyone else recall any howlers, where the magazines got it wrong?
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let me be the last to let you down....
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I subscribe to Top Gear, but occasionally have bought others. I think it was What Car that photoshops the cover car to make it RHD and give it UK plates, you then read the story and find it's a LHD German reg car. Why go to the effort??
Also, one mag picked up the JD Power survey after TG dropped it / started doing their own, and photoshopped number plates onto cars to make the cars look like they were the subject of the survey. Only problem was, they came up with an impossible registration, so obviously that car doesn't exist. Again, why bother??
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"What Car that photoshops the cover car to make it RHD" I do this an awful lot (the other way round) quite simply because nice cars rarely come here. I also take library shots, or press shots and drop them against a recognisable Polish background. It?s standard practise but I guess the public wouldn?t be so happy if they knew our other trick - we?ll do a comparison of say three different 2 litre cars, but for one reason or another there?ll be an availablity problem and one of them will be a 1.9 diesel. Then I?ll strip out the existing badges, paste in a badge and a shot of the engine from a press pack, maybe change the alloys and hey presto - nice shiny 2 litre petrol. We?ve done detailed comparitive tests of two cars that have never even been in the same country as each other and for all I know never been driven by our journalists but the reader sees them racing down the same stretch of Polish highway.
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The reverse can be true, I remember 20 plus years ago when the Yamaha 250 and 350 LC's were the business (high performance - for the day- liquid cooled twin cylinder two strokes), one of the mags did a spoof showing a 350LC with a four cylinder 500cc motor, a short while later Yamaha launched a 500LC!
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Seem to remember scoop images of something looking like the LDV Maxus on test being described as the next generation Ford Transit. This was about 2 years ago.
Cheers, SS
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A poor bit of photoshopping is the front cover of February's TG magazine; Jeremy Clarkson sitting "comfortably" judging from his posture in the back of a four door Aston that would have him hunkered down in the seat and with nowehere for his legs in reality.
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A poor bit of photoshopping is the front cover of February's TG magazine; Jeremy Clarkson sitting "comfortably" judging from his posture in the back of a four door Aston that would have him hunkered down in the seat and with nowehere for his legs in reality.
You're right. And by having JC in the car links him to it. Read the mag and the two don't meet. So why bother?
if you can't believe the photo's, why believe the words?
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It all sells magazines,and that is all its about.Get a picture of the latest celeb/royal in a made up new Ford/Vauxhall/Honda and the mag will sell shedloads.Why do you think Princess Diana is always appearing on the front of the tabloid newspapers?
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The answer to "why bother" is probably determined by what the readers want. Certainly our magazine goes through continual focus group sessions and what seem like trivial matters (German plates being switched for Polish plates etc.) are discussed in great detail. I?ve sat in on a few and they bring a new level to the meaning of tedium. If we do something, either readers have asked for it, complained about the lack of it or the direct competition have done it and it?s been met with success in terms of sales.
As for poor photoshop work - not on my watch SJB!
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The answer to "why bother" is probably determined by what the readers want. Certainly our magazine goes through continual focus group sessions and what seem like trivial matters (German plates being switched for Polish plates etc.) are discussed in great detail. I?ve sat in on a few and they bring a new level to the meaning of tedium. If we do something, either readers have asked for it, complained about the lack of it or the direct competition have done it and it?s been met with success in terms of sales.
Thanks BBD, that explains it a bit.
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My younger brother is a keen photographer. He always carries his camera with him for that million dollar photo he thinks he'll get.
A number of years ago, he was driving around Charlie Browns roundabout in Woodford when he saw a car, partly covered with lots of people standing around it. It was in the middle of the roundabout under the flyover.
He pulled off the road, jumped out of his car and started taking pictures. The people with the car tried to stop him....but hey....it's a free world.
He sold the pictures (Ford Granada Scorpio) to Auto Express I believe for £500. Rather short of the million, but it paid for his camera 10 times over I think.
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In the past few years, my work has taken me all over the world. Two of the things that have surprised me are (a) the extent to which programmes like WWTBA Millionaire have been syndicated to the point that local TV can be boring and (b) likewise the globalisation of some car mags. Even local language (and some local content) Autocar in Moscow and Shanghai for instance. Someone has certainly seem the buck opportunity.
In a related manned, even TG has now been Americanised for a pilot run.
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Wanna see a bad pic of a well tasty motor? Today's Telegraph Arts and Books section, p. 10 I think but can't swear to it, piece on the Tango, pic taken in Buenos Aires of a late-40s big Alfa, God they were beautiful, nose and tail cut off and a couple of humans in the way but still worth a look...
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"Does anyone else recall any howlers, where the magazines got it wrong?"
I seem to recall that, before the original Freelander came out, one "scoop" photograph and article announced breathlessly that the new Land Rover model would be known as the "Highlander" - presumably because someone saw the second half of the name on a pre-production model, and tried to second guess the full name.
Toyota obviously liked the name for an off-roader, and subsequently introduced their own Highlander- or is it a "Highrandel"?
Jack
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Presumably after the scoop pix of the Granada Scorpio were made public Ford decided it was too late to stop the car going into production - the disguise on it was there for a good reason...
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