Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Car Culture

Progressive to Offer “Pay As You Drive” Insurance

By Brad Aaron | Apr 21, 2008 | 38 Comments

While other insurance companies belittle those who can’t or don’t drive, another — Progressive — is living up to its name by being the first major US insurer to offer a "Pay As You Drive" policy, allowing customers who drive less to pay less for coverage. As explained in a New York Times "Freakonomics" […]

Ad Nauseam: The Humiliated Cyclist, Take Two

By Ben Fried | Apr 16, 2008 | 18 Comments

Now that State Farm has bowed out of the competition to air the world’s most anti-bike insurance commercial, Farmers’ HelpPoint steps into the breach with "Rush Hour." The Scene: We hear the sound of someone unlocking their car by remote, as a be-suited, middle-aged white guy strides by in a parking garage. That must have […]

State Farm Looks to Engage Cycling Community

By Brad Aaron | Apr 4, 2008 | 36 Comments

Responding to criticism of an ad depicting a humiliated office worker forced to bike to his job due to high gas prices, State Farm Director of Marketing Communications Tim Van Hoof writes: I’m sorry this commercial offended anyone. State Farm has been a supporter of bicycle safety through the thousands of bicycle rodeos we’ve held […]

Ad Nauseam: State Farm on the Humiliation of Biking to Work

By Aaron Naparstek | Apr 3, 2008 | 60 Comments

Drop what you’re doing, click the "play" button and enjoy 30 seconds of outstanding car culture courtesy of State Farm. The Scene: An African American actor with a shaved head, conservative gray suit and slightly stiff demeanor asks, "Where can you find me? At the intersection of gas prices can not get any higher and […]

Rev. Billy Preaches Bikes & Transit at the NYC Auto Show

By Aaron Naparstek | Mar 24, 2008 | 5 Comments

Thousands of people flocked to the New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center on Saturday. There, in the very belly of the beast, Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Driving Gospel Choir held services. That is, until the state troopers kicked them to the curb. StreetFilms’ Elizabeth Press was there.

America to the Automobile: “It’s Over”

By Brad Aaron | Mar 20, 2008 | 19 Comments

In honor of this year’s New York International Auto Show, which officially begins tomorrow, we present this very special announcement: Ms. America to Announce “The End of the Affair” at the NY Auto Show **Saturday, March 22**10:30 a.m.Jacob Javits Center After 100 years, Lady Liberty, the perennial Ms. America, is finally ending her“spectacularly combustible […]

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