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Portland Car2go carsharing program adds, what else, bike racks

Yes, you can indeed fit a guitar in the back of a Smart ForTwo. That's one of the side lessons we learned from a 95-second video that Daimler's carsharing division Car2go has posted about adding bike racks to a good chunk of its fleet in Portland, OR. Beyond that, the video had a nice tutorial on how to strap on a pair of bikes to the back of a really small car. Looks like it's not all that difficult. The details in the video are sparse, but Oregon Public Broadcasting has elaborated on Car2go's plan to affix bike racks to the back of about half of the Portland-area's fleet of 530 vehicles, which makes sense given that biking is a bit of a religion up there. Daimler launched Car2go in Portland during the summer of 2012, kicking things off with about 250 vehicles and 6,000 members. Since then, the fleet has doubled while membership has multiplied by a factor of five. And a good 40 percent of that membership has said it regularly bikes, hence the new racks. We get the feeling a fair number of those folks are musicians as well, hence the guitar. Car2go operates in 15 US cities. Check out Car2go's video above. Related Gallery Car2go Miami, Toronto, Calgary, Amsterdam News Source: Car2go/YouTube, Oregon Public Broadcasting via Green Car Reports Green smart Transportation Alternatives bike car2go portland

Street Glory Mappers turning cars into dynamic billboards like this

A French marketing firm with the impenetrable name of Street Glory Mappers is literally turning cars into billboards. Of course, we've all seen vehicles painted up for promotional use, but this company is taking that concept even further by including video.
Street Glory Mappers equips the vehicles with a large video screen behind the windshield to play whatever is being advertised. According to the company's promo, it may even be possibly to sync up the vehicle's lights with the show, as well. The firm claims that it's a great form of temporary, mobile marketing because the car can arrive at the location, play the video and then go away when the prospective audience leaves.
While it doesn't necessarily seem any more effective than other forms of advertising, the firm's idea is at least unobtrusive. After all, it's easier to ignore a stationary car than a person handing out flyers. However, vehicle flashing its lights and playing video could certainly distract other drivers.

New Smart ForFour ad is f**king great [NSFW]

Perhaps we're just easily amused, but this new advertisement from Smart is hilarious, if only for its sheer chutzpah. It plays on the innate ability of small children to repeat just about everything they hear, both good and bad. The 45-second spot was put together by BBDO Berlin for Smart, and emphasizes that tiny city cars, like the new ForFour, are a lot easier to deal with than hulking SUVs. And it does so in the most amusing way possible. The first 30 seconds are mainly toddlers cursing like the proverbial sailor, dropping F-bombs and several less vulgar expressions. There's even a kid waving his tiny middle finger. Towards the end of the clip, the ad's point is made. Check out the video up top, and do keep in mind, aside from a short stretch, the entire video is uncensored. If your workplace discourages foul language, you'll probably want to wait until you get home to watch this.