When you get a chance, hip-hop over to www.greedwheels.com, the Web site for the quirkily named custom wheel marketer Greed Wheels.
The company, which said it has warehouse locations in ``Chicagoland'' and Indianapolis, advertises wheels with such names as ``Drama,'' ``High Roller'' and ``Lust.'' While its corporate logo boasts, ``Greed-Enough Is Never Enough,'' the Web site said the company ``is hitting the scene hard with exciting new, cutting-edge designs that redefine the world of luxury wheels.'' And, with ``over 60 years of combined experience'' and an ``extremely knowledgeable staff,'' the company said it's ``ready to take you to a whole new level in the wheel industry.''
Go ahead, click on the site's links-images of hundred-dollar bills (what would frugal ol' Ben Franklin think?).
Anyone who's ever visited wheel alley at the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show in Las Vegas realizes, with all the hundreds of wheel companies vying for attention, competition is keen, to say the least. Greed Wheel's eye candy seems to be playing up to the excesses of the expendable income generation. The marquee vehicle on its home page is a Ford F-150-on 27-inch Greeds.
Reminds us of those immortal words uttered by Michael Douglas' ``Gordon Gekko'' character in the 1987 flick ``Wall Street,'' as he tutors young stockbroker ``Bud Fox'' (played by Charlie Sheen) with the mantra: ``Greed is good, greed is right, greed works.'' With his gift, Gordy probably could sell a boat-load of custom wheels.
This 'n that
A happy, belated b-day-By our calculations, baby Summer Nicole Huffman should have hit her 6-month birthday a while back. Who's she, you ask?
Last Oct. 2 her mom, Judy Good, gave birth to little Summer at the side of the highway about 5:20 a.m. after her boyfriend Keith Huffman's car had a tire blowout on Mississippi 8, five miles from Calhoun City.
At least they didn't name the tyke after the tire. But when she gets older she can always tell friends her original birthday bash was a real blowout.
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Heads up-In a National Public Radio story on the recent scandal at UCLA over bodies donated to medical science ending up being re-sold, the NPR reporter referred to a university official as ``the head of the body donor program.''
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New tire dealer in town-It's getting pretty bad when a tire dealer's latest competitor is the city he or she lives in.
A March 12 report on KFDX-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas, started out: ``Anyone who's bought tires knows they can be expensive, but anyone looking for new truck or tractor tires may be able to get a deal from the city of Wichita Falls.''
Apparently, the city had about 70 tires left over and was accepting bids until April 1 (hopefully, it wasn't an April Fool's joke.) The city said most bids are usually below retail price, making it a real deal for the highest bidder. The TV station noted, ``The city says it pays wholesale for the tires, so it isn't losing any money.'' Sheesh.
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Bye-bye Motown-``Richards trades tires for fish.''
Gotta admit that's an intriguing headline that ran in the April 12 issue of The Troy Messenger, serving Troy and Pike counties in Alabama. The story was about Willie Richards, who the writer said ``tired'' of balancing tires for buses and 18-wheelers and decided, after 30 years, to move back home to Pike County from Detroit. He now operates a fishing store there.
So what seems like a fair trade? A couple-dozen catfish for a truck tire?
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Limitless license-Spotted on an Akron roadway: An Infiniti Q30 with the vanity plates NFIN8TY. Clever.
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Tasteless morsel-If greed is good, what can you say about a car dealership that runs an ad for an ``Assassination Day Sale''?
On one of Jay Leno's recent ``Headlines'' segments on NBC's ``The Tonight Show,'' he displayed an advertisement from what looked like a Chevrolet dealership, calling it ``the most tasteless ad I have ever seen.'' In big display type, the ad's headline notes the dealership is having an ``Assassination Day Sale,'' then states: ``We are assassinating high prices in honor of our Presidents.'' The ad featured pictures of John F. Kennedy, Abe Lincoln and James A. Garfield.
What's next? A ``9-11'' sale?
`Pimpmobiles'?
Since we're harping on taste-or lack thereof-we raised a collective eyebrow at the press release that recently crossed Marketplace's desk from Castrol North America Inc.
The oil maker/marketer was announcing it has become the exclusive motor oil sponsor of MTV's new hit series ``Pimp My Ride.'' The company said the show, ``in true rags-to-riches fashion,'' takes a young ``automotively challenged fan and turns his/her bucket into a pimped-out masterpiece'' with the help of style shop West Coast Customs.
One of the hottest trends in America is for young men and women to trick out their cars for sport and style as well as performance, Castrol pointed out. ``The individuals who make up this distinct segment of Americans are as unique as their customized vehicles,'' said a prepared statement from Mike DeBiasi, Castrol Syntec marketing manager, ``and no other media outlet brings this community of passionate young consumers together better than MTV.''
Sure, we'll admit it's a catchy name for a show. Never having seen ``Pimp,'' it sounds like ``Queer Eye for the Car Guy.'' Call it old-fashioned thinking, but given all the tawdry baggage associated with pimps and the women who ply their trade, why would a company want to be associated with a pimp-based marketing campaign? Isn't that a kind of prostitution for some publicity?