J.J. Abrams and Autopia readers aren’t the only people who think the Aptera 2e three-wheeler looks like something out of the future. Check out this ad for Touchstone Energy Cooperative.
What is Touchstone Energy Cooperative?
According to its website, “Touchstone Energy co-ops collectively deliver power and energy solutions to more than 30 million members every day. Electric cooperatives distribute power for 75 percent of the U.S. land mass over 2.4 million miles of power lines. Electric cooperatives were established to provide electricity to rural America, and now make up the largest electric utility network in the nation. Touchstone Energy is the national brand identity for that network.”
OK, now that we got that cleared up, what about the ad?
For starters, there’s a nice visual nod to the past with that 1940s Ford getting washed in the driveway. That is a Ford, isn’t it? Might be a Chrysler. In any event, it's a nice contrast of old and new. There’s also the implied "old = hassles / new = wonderful" deal in play. And the the astonished looks of the kids is something right out of a Cohen Coen brothers movie. Like the hula-hoop scene in "Hudsucker Proxy."
But what is Touchstone Energy Cooperative selling, besides itself? Some sort of idyllic mid-20th century vision of the future? In addition to driving silent swoopy cars, is there the implication of jet-packs in the garage and gyroscopic martini shakers in the rumpus room? And where are the flying cars we were promised? Why, next thing you know, these crazy kids will have us believing computers will be small enough to fit in our pockets.
Oh. Wait.
One thing is for sure. Aptera Motors has built a car that screams "this is the future" like nothing else out there, and that's captured the imaginations of more than green car enthusiasts. It's captured the imagination of Madison Avenue.
Can Middle America be far behind?
