Hummer Owners Don't Like Stigma

SUV buyers avoid getting Hummers more than any other brand because of the image attached to owning one, or so says a survey by J.D. Power. That’s leading GM to change the marketing for the brand to highlight the utility of the H2 and H3.

The new campaign calls Hummers “Purpose Built” to show that people buy them to handle tasks other vehicles simply couldn’t accomplish. Hummers aren’t status symbols, you see, they’re to go white-water rafting after crossing the Rubicon. While it may be a good slogan on its own, we doubt that this attempt to change the image of Hummer will actually stick.

Hummer owners themselves are tired of getting nasty looks, and often find their SUVs vandalized, according to a story in USA Today. New ad campaign aside, we doubt mainstream buyers will stop looking down on Hummers as long as the SUVs continue to get the same — or worse — gas mileage as other SUVs. At least that’s our guess. What’s yours?

Hummer’s Feeling a Little Misunderstood (USA Today)