Only In Japan: Pinkquecenti

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

As we all know, TTAC has an occasional thing for pink cars. So has Fiat. Right where I live. Fiat delights Japan with the 500 Fiore Rosa (i.e. “Pink Flower”) limited edition of its Cinquecento.

A bit confusingly, only 150 of the pink babies will be available, only for a very short time and a very special occasion: For Valentines! The pinkies can only be bought from February 14 through 17, yours for only for 2.2 million Yen ($23,600, incl tax.) I already wanted to run out to buy Frau Schmitto-san hers, but she reminded me of two things:

She does not drive. And in Japan, the girls give the boys Valentine presents.

Did I mention that I love this country? I feel right at home, especially as it embarks on a flower power summer of love revisitation.

( Thank you, Gizmodiva, for the tip. However, it’s not $10,000, the yen has inched up a little.)

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Cfclark Cfclark on Feb 04, 2013

    This will appeal to the same set of people who would have bought a Nissan Figaro, I think. And I get the point about not "forcing kids into color preference based on gender role perception", but 1) this is Japan we're talking about, and we can't really apply our parenting philosophy to their car choices; 2) it's way too late to address this for people who are old enough to drive and buy cars. People who would drive this already have pink Hello Kitty purses, cell phone cases, etc., and aren't concerned with having been "forced into pink" 15-20 years ago.

  • PrincipalDan PrincipalDan on Feb 04, 2013

    A few years back a major museum did an exhibition of things that had been "made pink" in an attempt to market them better to women. Everything from pink appliances, to pink mops, to pink hairdryers, and even pink vibrators. I think this Fiat falls into the desperate marketing attempt category.

    • Marcelo de Vasconcellos Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Feb 04, 2013

      Another culture...Nothing desperatea bout it. Probably very smart. AS Bertel noted. COuld work in BRazil too. I say bring it on Fiat, at least you'd get some free media.

  • Jerseydevil Jerseydevil on Feb 04, 2013

    rather talk about cool cars than faragos decline into pathological paranoia. i like pink cars, but, as a gay man, could never own one myself. i saw a huge pink suv the other day, it had a mary kay cosmetics insignia on it. are pink cars more palatable if they are mary k's?

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Feb 05, 2013

    I'm going to hold out for the Hello Kitty model.

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