MANILA, Philippines ? In case you missed it, just as July was winding down, car manufacturer Chevrolet announced that one of its 2010 Camaro models would look like the character Bumblebee from the big-budget, live-action ?Transformers? movies.
Now those of you who, like me, have only seen these ?robots in disguise? in cartoons from the 1980s, are probably double-checking your memories of the show at this news. And yes, you?re right: in the cartoons, Bumblebee was a yellow, old-style Volkswagen (VW) Beetle.
The question here isn?t how a curvy little cartoon car can morph into a sleek muscle car after several decades and the transition to digital animation. The real question is why a car manufacturer decided to sell an actual vehicle based on a familiar character from a movie.
The answer goes beyond name recognition and involves anthropomorphism, the technique of humanizing nonhuman things by applying human qualities to them.
For example, if you?ve ever been stuck in traffic behind a VW New Beetle, you might have noticed that the seat headrests, the curve of the trunk hatch and the lights over the rear wheel wells all combine to give the impression of a smiling face driving away.
In the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Chicago noted these automotive design features aren?t accidental. They said that people sometimes see their vehicles as mechanical companions, giving them names and often alternating between complaining or praising them based on the engine?s performance.
The researchers found that when people can think of their cars in human terms, they are more likely to view the vehicle, and by extension the product line and manufacturer, in a more positive light. When that happens, the study authors added, the car transitions from ?vehicle that gets me from Point A to Point B? into ?trusted company spokesperson that may bring in repeat business.?
Faces of cars
These findings were complemented a year later by researchers from the University of Vienna and Florida State University, who focused on how human facial features are assigned to the front ends of cars.
Writing in the December 2008 issue of the journal Human Nature, the study authors looked at the idea that cars have faces that are defined by the headlights (eyes), the front grille (nose) and the air intake slots below the grille (mouth). When people look at these faces, the researchers wrote, they identify traits such as gender, attitudes and emotions.
For example, the face on the front of the VW New Beetle, with headlights closer to the center of the car and a relatively narrow grille, was described as being happy, childlike and open. In contrast, the face of a BMW 5 Series car with angled headlights and wider air intake slots was considered more masculine, domineering and adult.
These studies on humanizing cars and the effects on people?s perceptions of the brand and model bring us back to the Bumblebee-style Camaro. The character is an Autobot, one of the good guys and the companion of the young human hero so it?s not hard to imagine the car might benefit from such associations. The car?s appeal may also cross generations, attracting both those who grew up with the cartoon and want a car that feels familiar yet reflects their adult status, as well as first-time ?Transformers? fans.
One last note: going by the showroom model?s angular lines, the Bumblebee of the live-action movies seems to have had a harder life than his cartoon counterpart of the 1980s. And if this idea leads to a discussion of the cartoons, I hope it?ll include an explanation for how Decepticon leader Megatron always managed to shift from giant robot into a handheld, laser pistol when his similarly sized Autobot counterpart Optimus Prime turns into a truck cab which somehow gets hitched to an 18-wheel trailer from out of nowhere.
E-mail the author at massie@massie.com.
